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THE POPES HAVE, IN ALL THEIR DAYS, TRIED TO PUT THE EXTINGUISHER ON THE 
OUK SAVIOUR AND HIS APOSTLES, BUT THE KHiLE WAS THE GREAT HINDERAN 



WORK OF 
CE. 



WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL ? 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD 
IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY, OF THE 

Ro/r|ai7 (^atl^olie (5l7iJrel7, 

Showing the impossibility of the Apostle's con- 
nection with that Church, and that 

PETER WAS NEVER A POPE. 



ALSO THAT 



POPERY IS NOT CHRISTIANITY, 

TOGETHER WITH SOME OF ITS DIABOLICAL 

CRUELTIES 

THE UNCHRISTIAN LIVES OF POPES AND OTHERS, 
ALSO A PEEP INTO THE 

CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 

Massacres of Christians, and that the world's progress has 
been hindered by this institution, etc., etc,, etc. 

Also Saints, Martyrs, Jesuits, Inquisition. Times of Luther, 
and other useful information. 



By KDWARD B. IVL 

rochh;.ster, n. y. 




Tan LBMtARY 

OF Coii^(^BS8 



^4tsaBSfS«» 






<^'^'.^ 



TESTIMONIALS. 



Rochester, N. Y., September 8th, 1891. 
I have somewhat carefully examined the book entitled — " Why have 
Priests at All," by a citizen of our City, Mr. Edward B May. 

It is evident thau he has canvassed the Papal question with much thor- 
oughness, and reached the same conclusions which many scholarly authors 
have. Romanism has long been considered an enemy of our free American 
institutions, and unless it makes material changes, must be considered in 
the future as in the past, a real foe of our true christian civilization. 

The author deserves much credit for his faithful research from a field 
so prolific. While the great watchword of the age is, "C/iarity for All,'' 
it should not excuse any system of politics or religion, which is plainly 
wrong. 

Ira T. Walker, 

Pastor First Methodist Episcopal Church. 



Rochester, N. Y., September talh, 1891. 
179 East Avenue. 
I have to-day examined the work — "Why have Priests at All." 
For twelve years I have known the author, Mr. Edward P). May, as a 
gentleman of intelligence and piety, and an extensive reader. He has 
written a book on a very important subject, evincing much research and 
thought. 

The political aspirations and machinations of the Romish Church 
awaken much disquiet in the American mind, and it is little wonder that 
such men as Mr. May are stirred to investigate and expose them. 

His conclusions are in accord with those of many eminent theologians 
and political thinkers, and will no doubt find many thoughtful readers, who 
will be impressed by the truths stated. 

G. Chap.man Jones, 

Pastor .Asbury M. E. Church. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year iSgi, 

BY THE AUTHOR, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



Printed by the 
Artistic Ptp. and Eng. Company, 
Rochester, X. Y. 



PREFACE. 

There have been raanv books written on the subject of Catholicism. 
Opinions differ more as to the date in which it began than on any 
other. 

There is a great unanimitv in each writer's mind, as to the 
unchristian and ungodh' character of its founders, as well as in its 
perpetuation. 

The great difference between these writers and myselt" is this : 
They say Catholicism is an apostasy. I say it is even worse :it never 
had an existence as a christian church ; it began with idolatry and 
usurpation, its whole life is essentiallv pagan, and it is high time 
this great insult to the apostles, and to Christianity, be generally and 
thoroughly understood. 

The writer is a true believer in the Bible and its prophecies, and 
fulfilment, and that book proves the statements Romanists make and 
continue to make, with such unbecoming eflVonterv as to their con- 
nection with christianit\' to be all fable from its verv conception. 
The writer never believed in the Papacy, and has had an instinct 
from his youth, that an}- church or system calling itself christian 
ought to produce something better, than the average lives of those 
who call themselves good Catholics. 

He has seen thousands of them in the large cities of Europe as 
elsewhere, and has thought the world would be better without 
religion if that was the best it had. This was before he knew by 
experience what Christianity meant. 



IV. PREFACE. 

And this was one of the causes, that led him to search out their 
history, and it seemed as if providence put in his hands, one by one. 
just the books best suited tor this information. And after havinjr 
fuliy satisfied himselt, as to its fearfully degrading and demoralize- 
ing character, then he was made to believe that God inspired him to 
write this book, and he claims an inspiration in the effort to search 
and write the truth. 

And that is his apology to the public in bringing this book before 
them, together with a deep sense of the wrong societ\' endures, in 
having such false teachings offered to their fellow-citizens, the 
greatest part of vthich falls on the Catholic himself, who is lured to 
the gulf with false hopes, and then disappears forever, not returning 
to tell the tale — now to late. 

The writer does not claim to be wholly original, he brings foward 
something new, but the bulk has been told many times before, only 
in another way. He takes his facts from the bible and secular 
history, which, thank God, is now open to all — there is not yet any 
censorship or embargo on either, unless to those branded with 
superstition. But this freedom will last no longer than we deserve, 
or as we faithfully and with jealous care look that our enemy does 
not take us at a mean advantage, putting us off our guard, or by 
internal or external strife. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty 
and will be exemplified with us more in this than in anything else. 

And unless great energy is soon put forth, we sliall furnish another 
chapter to the dreadful history of the past. 

We have not taken in all countries in speaking of this great evil. 
To do this would be to repeat the awful details, but we have said 
sufficient to prove the danger of this great confederacy. 

Rochester, N. Y., July 1891. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 

" But though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach any other Gos- 
pel unto } ou than that which we have preached unto you, let 
him be accursed. 

As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any 
other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be 
accursed." — Galatians I, 8, 9. 

CHAPTER II. 
PETER NO POPE. 

" And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
I will build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it. 

And I will give unto thee, the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven." 
— Matthew XVI, 18 and part of 19. 

CHAPTER III. 
CONSTANTINE, THE CHILD OF THE APOCALYPSE. 

•' And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven ; a woman clothed 

with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a 

crown of twelve stars. 
" And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to 

be delivered." 
And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations, 

with a rod of iron ; and her child was caught up unto God anti 

lo his throne." — Revelation, XII, i, 2, 5. 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 

•' The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out 
of the bottomless pit, and shall go into perdition ; and they 
that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not 
written in the book of life, from the foundation ot the world 
when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." — 
Revelation XVII, 8. 

CHAPTER V. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC 
CHURCH— THE WALDENSES. 

" And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out 
of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his 
horns ten crowns, and his heads the name of blasphem}'. 
And it was given unto him, to make war with the saints, and to 
overcome them ; and power was given him over all kindreds, 
and tongues, and nations." — Revelation, XIII, 2, 7. 

CHAPTER VI. 

AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 

" Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any 
people." — i'roverbs, XIV, 34. 

CHAPTER VII. 

FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 

" Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing. 
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel 
together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let 



CONTENTS. Vll 

US break their bands assunder, and cast away their cords from 
us. He that sittteh in the heavens shall laugh ; the Lord shall 
have them in derision." — Psalms, II, i to 4. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

ENGLAND. 

" And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord, thy God, and 
walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I 
testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish." — Deu- 
teronomy, VIII, 19. 

CHAPTER IX. 

SPAIN. 

" And the King shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto 
you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these 
my bretheren, ye have done it unto me." — Matthew, XXV, 40. 

CHAPTER X. 

SCOTLAND. 

" Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your 
work shall be rewarded. For the eyes ot the Lord run to and 
fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the 
behalf of them, whose heart is perfect toward him." — II Chron- 
icles, XV, 7, XVI, part of 9. 

CHAPTER XI. 

CALVIN AND GENEVA. 

" Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be like 
his."— Numbers, XXIII, 10. 



vni CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XII. 

HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 

" God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many 
inventions." — Ecclesiastes, VII, part ot 29. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE JESUITS. 

" And said, O full of all subtihy, and all mischief, thou child ot the 
devil, thou enemy ot all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to 
pervert the right wa3s of the Lord."- -The Acts, XIII, 10. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE INQIJISITION. 

" And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time 
of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst 
give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, 
and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldst de- 
stroy them which destroy the earth." — Revelation, XI, 18. 

CHAPTER XV. 

CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 

"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, 
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds 
were evil — For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light neither 
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." — ^John, 
III, 19, 20. 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAPTER XVI. 
THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 

" Thou shalt not make unto thee, any graven immage, or any like- 
ness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth 
beneath, or tliat is in the water under the earth. 

Thou shalt not bow down th^'self to them, nor serve them, for I the 
Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity' of the 
lathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation 
of them that hate me. 

And shewing mercy unto thousancs of them that love me and keep 
my commandments." — Exodus, XX, 4, 5,. 6. 

CHAPTER XVII. 
CLOSING REMARKS. 



CHAPTER I. 

POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 

"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gosi)el unto you 
than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As 
we said before, to-day I now again, if any man preach any Gospel unto 
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." — Galatians i, 8, 9. 

THE writer of this book promises to give nothing but truth, or 
as he believes, collected Irom historians of approved ability 
and honor, also from biblical history. 

He expects in this day of Bible criticism, to have some differ from 
him in his interpretation of the scriptures, still his opinion, or theirs, 
does not change God's word. It has always been the same, and 
will so remain. 

He also expects to hear the followers ot Popery say some unkind 
things, they may call this book a tirade of abuse against their in- 
stitution, but who, with history before them can speak ot such facts 
as we find there with a spirit ot approval. To speak well of such 
acts, would be virtually to encourage, and we in this age of 
protestant enlightened civilization can only shudder at things done 
and forced on helpless people, through the medium of superstition, 
and as that weapon is still in use, and as we fear being now brought 
to bear on our form of government, which so far, has certainly 
proved itself to give the greatest liberty to the greatest number, and 



12 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

as we think that hberty is in chinger, it is time for some one to cry 
out and warn the careless and inditlerent of the rocks that are being 
so placed as to wreck our civil and religious liberty. 

The bulk of what we shall say, has been said over and over again, 
but perhaps not in the same way, and we should not have undertaken 
this duty alone. 

Every word written has been the subject of pra}er, and as we 
believe encouragement from our Heavenly Father, who we think 
first inspired us to the task. 

The thoughts given in this book are not born of a moment, but 
are the convictions of almost a life time, strengthened by what we 
daily see and read. And on reading that work entitled "Why 
Priests Should Wed," with its startling revelations, the question 
came strangely to my mind, and in such a singular way, and not 
once only, but many times "Why Have Priests at All," and as this 
will be the title of the book, the writer believes it to be born ot in- 
spiration. 

And would not the world be better without them? The writer has 
witnessed so much spiritual degradation so much wretchedness and 
crime, caused by the followers of priest craft here and in Europe, 
that his heart has actually groaned, to see the world relieved from it. 

And then as the pages of history, are opened, with its dreadful 
and sickening details of crime, murder and cruelty, and in the spirit 
of fiends, rather than men. 

Priests appear to act as if men and women were only made to find 
means for them to live in extravagance and pomp, and to trample 
them under their feet. 

And when we see the energy displayed, the talent employed, the 
cunning craftiness used, to perpetuate the system, the imitative 
piety, the sensational services, and all for effect, to steal away the 
senses, but nothing to satisfy the soul, we at once see this religion is 
got up by man, and made to suit the carnal aflections. We feel many 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. I3 

would join it, because it pretends to throw a shield over the evil 
passions. Men can join this so-called church without a change of 
heart, blind their conscience, under the name of religion. And go 
on pursuing the same life, because the terms of supposed pardon are 
so easy. 

A man's goodness is not in obeying God, it consists in obeying the 
outward and visible forms of this so-called church. 

And as we stud}- its utter failure to the individual, and the nation, 
its blighting influence on every countr}' it has ruled, we look around 
for help, and find human aid a failure, and so we go to the giver of 
all good. 

Does the law ot God sanction such an institution, or does it not 
wholly condemn the system from the beginning. 

Is not Popery one of the most diabolical deceptions ever forced on 
human senses? 

Is it not the outcome ot satanical influences? Is it not the antichrist 
spoken of in the Bible. Does not the church of Rome carr}' on her 
infamous trafic in the ruin of soul and body and under such pretended 
sanctity, that she has well earned the name and title, God has given 
her in the 17th Chapter of Revelation, as the mother of harlots and 
abominations of the earth? 

Many writers agree that to give her true history, would be to fill a 
book with such filth, that it would be impossible 10 place it in an}' 
respectable family, without causing the blush of shame to tingle 
through the blood, and to contaminate, instead of benefitting the 
reader. 

That part is not my purpose, mine shall be to give history, secular 
and biblical, and lay before you enough to show her real ciiaracter, 
and after that if you follow in her footsteps, or give her money, or 
countenance her in any way, the consequences are yours, my task 
will be done. 



14 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

I do not think there is a writer of any consequence living, who 
would soil his pen by giving if it a were possible, the whole history 
of popery, with its lies, breaches of faith, its diabolical cruelty, its 
pretensions, blasphemy, murders, adultery and every crime that the 
wickedness of man can conceive, a^'^e and devils to. 

It would be difficult for any book to contain a 20th part of its his- 
tory, which we can now trace for about 1260 years, beginning its 
career, as a so-called christian church, about the 7th century, and 
not as their fables run from the Apostle Peter, who is as innocent of 
Catholicism, as a babe in arms, and who would, if he were to appear 
on earth again, repudiate the whole connection with popery from the 
very starting point, and in fact he, and Paul, have already done so 
in their writings and speaking of it as a great evil in the future, 
to be avoided and condemned. One of the objects of this book is to 
ask the American people or any other nation, this question. Would it 
be desirable to have popery the religion of the country with its known 
history? It so, all you have to do is to sit down and let them rivet 
the chains of superstition around your necks. 

For they are determined whether you are or not, to make you 
submit to it. 

They are at work while you sleep, there is not a thing omitted in 
their calculations, they are already filling the offices with what they 
call good catholics, from the highest to the lowest, they are trying 
to fill every post with slaves to the church, so that all power passes 
from your hands to theirs, leaving protestants entirely helpless in 
case of a church revolution. 

What do they want these military associations for, these parades 
that people encourage, and line the sidewalk in viewing, those 
handkerchiefs waved from the houses? Is this all for peace and done 
for no object but for the love of God ? 

If this was a church of God's planting would it require an army 
as of old to awe people into submission. 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 1 5 

Witness the narrow escape we have just had in the exchange of 
president. Had the late president been re-elected what power it would 
have put in their hands. For the almost last official act was to 
countenance the centennial meeting of the Jesuits College in 
Washington by his presence and also making a speech in their 
favor. Are we as a country posted as to what Jesuits are? Do we 
know that they are a body of men too bad for even popery? 

They have been discarded even by the scarlet woman of Rome, 
they are now brought back into popish favor because a great scheme 
is on foot. Do we as a nation know these people have been banished 
from most all countries, and now they are taking advantage of the 
free and mild government of this country, also England and her 
colonies? They are sowing all over these their pernicious doctrines 
and doing it with such a craftiness that ordinary people do not 
notice the cloven foot, or know the principles of those to whom they 
are in daily communion. 

We should ask ourselves the question do we as a nation want to 
have our libeity taker, away ? That liberty we so much boast of — and 
there is no liberty so dear as spiritual liberty. 

If we loose that we become the slaves of a foreign power who 
would not scruple to break any law human or divine. If they can 
get once their feet on our necks they would throw all laws to the 
wind and imprison us soul and body. 

There is no doubt trouble ahead, and the best thincf is to know 
your enemy before going to war with him, to know his strength, to 
judge him by his past history and then you will know what to expect, 
what mercy he will show you in case of a defeat. And this is what 
I propose to do with the help of the Lord — to lay before vou some of 
the characteristics of this so called church, and in doing this I do 
not write against all members of this confederacy, for there are some 
in it born with such a desire to please God and who seek tor every 
means to reach him, as far as the light is in them — and that proves 



1 6 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

their natures too good even for popery to entirely spoil. I am writing 
against the system and cannot, as many do, call it only an apostacy ; 
it is more ; it is a resurrection of most of the idolatrous relijiions of 
the world. 

It is satan standing in the place of God. Mine is a difficuk task, 
and I must speak plain without fear or affection. 

And will prove all I say before laying down m}' pen. Speakers 
and writers are so apt to call it the church ; ministers in their pulpits, 
who are preaching and lecturing against it, as well as those who 
know it together-, with apostolic succession, to be onl}'^ a deception, 
still call it the church and great evil has arisen from this circum- 
stance, for inhdels speaking against Christianity, publish the deeds of 
this so-called church, in the name of the true disciples of Christ, and 
make their comparisons accordingly to the detriment of the latter. 
Charging all the evils of the dark ages, to them of which they are 
entirely innocent. 

The object of this book is to prove by biblical and secular history, 
that this never was the church of Christ. 

Then that the actions of this so-called church, is at variance with 
Christ's teachings as well as the apostles. 

Then again their bloodthirsty spirit as well as other actions prove 
them to be antichrist. 

And to compare their pompous lives their grasping, greed}- domi- 
neering actions with the gentle and mild life of Jesus of Nazareth, 
who commanded us if we were assaulted on one cheek to turn the 
other also. 

And as apostolic succession is disputed, let us ask here, what it is 
to be an apostle? 

To be one is to be an eye witness, and in that case, how are they 
to have successors. 

They all preached the Gospel, the Bible and those that are suc- 
cessors in that sense are disciples. They witnessed what they saw 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 1 7 

and did it faithfully, even unto death, and there the apostleship 
ended. See Acts X — 39. 

"And we are witnesses, of all things, that he did both in the land of 
the Jews, and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree." 
And these are the words of Peter, their falsely so-called Pope. 

In quoting the above passages in the new testament, some may 
dispute its existence, at this early date, but the new testament was 
known, read, and acted upon as soon as written, it only in manu- 
script form, but come in what form it may, it has always had more 
or less enemies. 

Why did Paul write the verses at the head of this chapter? 

He is sounding the alarm. 

The mystery of iniquity is already working. 

He tells the Galations that some are already perverting the Gospel 
of Christ by the introduction of another Gospel, but then, he adds, it 
is not another Gospel. 

It was some counterfeit, paving the way for the coming great 
counterfeit, probably the traditions of the Jewish church or the Gen- 
tiles or both combined. 

Christ's plan is so simple, and yet so stupendeous, the just for the 
unjust, that human nature, even to day finds it hard to catch the 
thought, the just must live b}' faith, and so they kept on introducing 
sacrifices. The Roman Church is and always has been a sacrificing 
priesthood, the very opposite of Christ's plan. 

'Tis true they do not ofler the blood of bulls and goats, but are 
trusting to their own works, in the shape of penances, and a host of 
other things, so we can hardly wonder at the people of that early day 
having been used to so many sacrifices, still wanting to cling to the 
old plan. It causes Paul a great deal of uneasiness. 

And then tells them religion is not so much doing as having. He 
adds, see iith and 12th verses. "The religion I preach is not from 
man ; man cannot give it to me ; it comes by revelation of Jesus Christ, 



1 8 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

by the Holy Ghost/' This is exactly the same as Jesus told Peter 
when he said, "blessed art thou, Simon Barjona." This and Paul's 
advice to the Galations explodes the whole system of popery. 

Both Peter and Paul seemed to have an intuition, as to future 
events ; a fear of a coming power that would be the enemy of the 
Gospel they preach. 

Peter little thought that in six or seven centuries this coming power 
would tack his name to their misdeeds, and happil}^ for him he was 
ignorant of this fact. 

Still Peter and Paul warned the people in their speech and writings, 
that such a power would come. 

Paul says in the II. of Thessalonians, II, 3, 4. " Let no man 
deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there 
come a falling away first, and that man of sin (the pope) be revealed — 
the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself, above all 
that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in 
the temple of God, shewing himselt that he is God." 

And then he tells them that that wicked shall be revealed. Many see 
him to-day as he is, a rank impostor, and to them lie has been re- 
vealed. And has he not all these centuries been occupying the temple 
of God? I do not mean his Vatican, that is not God's temple. Our 
bodies are the temple of the living God, and if we allow him to 
take possession, he will dwell there in our hearts. But has not this 
man of sin driven him forth? Has lie not caused God to withdraw 
from the hearts of his people by filling them with his idolatries and 
abominations? 

And then he says the Lord shall consume him with the spirit of 
his mouth and shall destro}' him with the brightness of his coming. 
The spirit of his mouth is the bible, and the rest will be done, by 
the preaching and spreading ol the Gospel, and then these people 
that will follow him in his antichrist spirit shall have strong delusions 
and shall believe a lie, and will also become sons of perdition. 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 1 9 

How God's word always agrees. John, prophesying on this same 
wicked man in the Revelation XVIII, 4, says : ''Come out of her my 
people that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of 
her plagues." 

So it matters not, what pretensions the pope may make about his 
being the vice-gerent of God. Paul says : "should it be an angel 
from heaven that leads you away from this Bible let him be accursed." 

Peter sa3's in II Peter II, i, "But there were false prophets also 
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you 
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord 
that bought them, and brings upon themselves swift destruction." 

Peter could not tell in what form these teachers would come ; it 
was only revealed to him, that they would come and they have come 
in the form of popes and priests. 

There were no priests or popes in Peter's day, excepting the Jewish 
and pagan priests and these Christ's teachings ended. 

The Jewish priests had been in a former day introduced and ap- 
pointed by God, to attend the daily sacrifices. 

Christ offering himself as the one great sacrifice, put an end to 
all such future offerings, and on the day of Christ's crucifixion when 
the temple was rent asunder, there ended the necessity for any 
future priests. The pagan priests were then as now an abomination 
in the sight of God. 

The only knowledge Peter had about priests outside of the 
before mentioned ones, is when he speaks of his new born babes in 
Christ telling them to desire the milk of the word, (the Bible) see 
I Peter II, 2, 9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest- 
hood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should shew forth the 
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his mar- 
velous light," a different kind of priests to the man of sin. 

The object of quoting these passages of scripture is to shew first 
the fallacy oi having a bible-hating priesthood, and next that Peter 



20 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

and Paul from whom these priests, so called, pretend to be the 
successors were strictly Bible christians. 

Then if these men that call themselves priests are of God, why 
should they refuse the word of God. Wh}^ have they in all their 
history tried to destroy the Bible, if they could have had their way 
we should have had no Bible at this date. 

This book is acknowledged by God, man, angels and devils to be 
the truth. Did not Christ quote scripture when the devil tempted 
him, proving what was written? Does he not quote the prophets, 
Moses, etc., in all his teachings? Does not the devil also say in the 
temptation? it is written quoting a passage of scripture. Do we not 
find in Revelation XXII, 9, when John was speaking to the angel 
that came down from heaven having the key ol the bottomless pit 
and a great chain in his hand to bind satan a thousand years, did 
«ot John fall down to worship at his feet? Then he told him to do it 
not, for said he, "I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethen the 
prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book, worship 
God." So here was an angel who acknowledged the Book, but who 
refused to be worshiped by man, but pointed to where all worship 
was due. 

How unlike these earthly minded popes, he had not even a toe to 
give him to kiss. 

Men and women have testified to its truth from the begining, 
through the ages made dark by the absence of this very book. Does 
it not open the way for all improvement in morals and science? But 
the enemies of God are still trying to hide it. And oh, fearful to 
own the actions of protestants to allow it to be banished from tlie 
public schools, and also to allow seperate schools where dear little 
innocent cliildren are brought up under the system of degrading 
idolatary instead ot the knowledge of the true God. 

Now let us compare Paul's system of education with that of these 
so-called'priests. • 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITV. 21 

Paul mentions one in particuhir, of whom he is interested in edu- 
cating. 

See II. Timothy, III, i6, 17. All scripture is given by inspiration 
of God, and is profitable for doctrine, lor reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 

This is the word of God as given by the Apostle Paul to Timoth)^, 
his well beloved son, his adopted son, and begins his letter to him in 
I, 2. "Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith." This Timothy, is 
a young man, and is studying for the ministry. And Paul is doing 
all he can to perfect him, as an evangelist for the conversion of souls 
and the building up of Christ's kingdom. - 

As we see above, Paul is very anxious to impress on his pupils' 
mind, the importance of the Bible. He tells him it is good under all 
circumstances ; it is profitable for doctrine. 

So that he can lead men and build them up in God's way. 

If you have to reprove a person, you will find an argument to suit 
the case, and they will be always at your tongue's end, if you are 
thoroughly furnished. Even for correction you will find sufficient to 
accomplish the end sought as far as you are concerned. 

Paul valued education as all educated men do, but an education 
without the Bible seemed to him useless, especially for a man that 
was called to preach Christ's Gospel, and he reminds Timothy, (see 
II Timothy III, 15,) that from a child, he has known the Holy 
Scriptures, which are able to make him wise unto salvation, through 
faith which is in Christ Jesus. Paul does not, here at any rate, 
say anything to him about Greek, Latin or Hebrew. 

He may be versed in all that, but he wants to impress on his mind 
the scriptures are the most important of all. 

Why, these bible burners must have made a mistake in their succes- 
sion. It must be some one else they have succeeded. The apostles 
were bible christians, and ihe church hates it — seem afraid ol it. 



22 WHY HAVE PRISTS AT ALL.'' 

What have they made use of Peter's and Paul's name forP We find 
this so-called Catholic Church, speaking of them both as well as the 
rest of the apostles ; the}' have tacked their name to their churches ; 
some are known as St. Paul's, some St. Peter's and some both. 

We don't mind the name being used, if they had only caught 
their virtues, that would be a good thing, but these names are only 
used to deceive, to lead astray, to blind men, and close their e3'es to 
the truth instead of instructing them in righteousness. 

We see from the above, that Paul was doing all he could to make 
Timothy a perfect master of the bible, and we find all through the 
history of the church that all they have done, is the very opposite to 
the lives and teachings of the apostles. 

They flaunt their names in every possible way, and pretend to be 
connected. 

Then if that is so, why not teach the same doctrine? Why not use 
the same bible Paul and Peter used and give the same instruction to 
their scholars as Paul gave to Timothy? 

Their object is not to teach God's word but to destroy it. 

The bible is to them a standing reproof. 

It reminds them of their wicked pretenses. 

It shows they are nothing but tares growing among the wheat. 

It pronounces a judgment and a curse against them, and warns 
them to repent and it has made them change in their bible the word 
repent, to penance, so they fear and hate it and hide it from the eyes 
of all they can, and have done so through all their history, and since 
in these latter days the bible will speak for itself, an altered edition 
is given/ and everything done to bring God's word into contempt. Its 
uselulness is destroyed among a certain class, it is slandered in so 
many ways. The writer has spoken to hundreds, who have been 
tauffht to think the bible second to traditions. 

Some would say, there is some good things in it, and some bad, 
others we do not read because we cannot interpret it without the 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 23 

priests. Others more profane would say to hell with your bible, or 
some other such expression. 

And so this greatest of the apostles, Paul, seems to prophesy and 
to protest in advance against some power he sees in the iuture, 
• and 3'et it is not himself. Notice, he says, the spirit, see I. Timothy 
IV, I. "Now the spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter 
times (which means the christian era) some shall depart from the 
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speak- 
ing lies in h3'pocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, 
forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats .(at 
stated periods) and teaching for sound doctrine, profane and old 
wives' fables. 

Does not this exactly correspond with their whole system? 

What are the traditions of the church but old wives tables, are 
not priests forbidden to marry, and what is meant by eating fish on 
Friday and other fast days? 

Is all this the doctrine of Christ or does it come from some other 
source? , 

Does not the curse pronounced by Paul at the head of this chapter 
exactly suit this case, and what importance Paul attaches to it by 
repeating the curse? 

Talk of the age ot invention, it was a great invention for the pope 
to tack the apostles' names to their scheme, but what a more prolific 
time they would have had if they had only made Paul a pope instead 
of Peter. 

We think the telephone and photography new inventions, surely 
Paul must have had both, to be able to give such a correct picture 
as the above, and so manv years in advance. Oh, try again and 
you will find there is some mistake about this apostolic succession. 

Now for another of Paul's pictures, see I Timothy III, 2, 3, 4. 

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, 
vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach, 



24 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, 
not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house, having his children 
in subjection with all gravity." 

Paul must be improving in his photography, he has just now 
struck oft' a bishop. Well how does it agree, does it suit this so- 
called celibacy, where do we find priests with children? Are thev 
blest with happy homes as other men? But as to the children I what 
about the skeletons of these little darlings found in all the monastries 
and nuneries? Oh, that does put a sort of a blurr on Paul's picture, 
but then can it be true? Well, when we have searched these places 
we shall be able to put a frame on the picture. And are any priests 
fond of filthy lucre? We will take a peep at the Vatican, all these 
years, and other places. Notice the table groaning with all the 
luxuries of life such as few can have, and notice their festivals and 
pilgrimages in true heathen style, and as to wine, why I think they 
like it, but we will try and find out. 

That the apostles were Bible Christians there can be no doubt. 
Should any doubt, just read the first four or five chapters of the Acts' 
of the Apostles. We will relate one or so. 

In the Acts III, i, Peter and John go up to the temple at 
Jerusalem and a certain man lame from his birth was begging at the 
gate called beautiful. Peter called his attention by saying, "look at 
us." The man expecting to receive something, but Peter said, 
" silver and gold have I none ", ver}^ much unlike a pope, " but 
such as I have give I thee. 

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk, and he 
took him by the hand and lifted him up, and his feet and ankle 
bones received strength, and he at once leaped and walked and 
praised God." 

This was a great miracle and Jhe whole city became greatly ex- 
cited. All men flocked to them, filling the temple. 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 25 

Now the church going Jews had most of them become apostate 
and this state of things would injure their idol worship as well as the 
Gentiles. It was opening up a new era and if this continued where 
would their temple worship be? 

They would have to step down to make room for the new 
comers, and in order to put a stop to it, they laid hands on them 
and commanded them not to speak at all, or teach in the name of 
Jesus. 

But Peter and John answered (see Acts, IV, 19) " Whether it be 
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, 
judge ye." 

Here was the spirit begun that made the future martyrs. Both sides 
contributed to it. On the one side, an honest resistance to oppres- 
sion ; on the other, force — no argument as to which was right, but 
simply, we command ! 

This was the spirit of the Jewish priesthood, and which spirit was 
many centuries later carried into effect by the Roman Church with 
such relentless cruelty. 

" By their truits shall ye know them " are the words of Jesus, and 
by the comparison of the Protestant history with that of those who 
follow the Pope, shall we be able to determine which is Pagan, 
which is Christian. 

In the first place Peter preached repentance towards God, and 
beliel in the Lord, Jesus Christ. His words are (see Acts, III, 19) 
" Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be 
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the pres- 
ence of the Lord " ; and this has been, and is the religion of the 
Protestant. 

This was not saying, I am Pope, I will give you absolution, but 
you must do penance for it, you must count so many beads, or say 
so many Ave Marys, or that you must pray to the Virgin Mary, or 
do any ot the other foolish things that popery teaches, but simply 



26 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

repent and come to Jesus, and he will blot vour sins out by the 
power of the Holy Ghost. Peter did not have a great Vatican to 
live in, with hundreds of attendants, both men and women, or live 
in great pomp, or rely on education. On the contrary, (see Acts, 
IV, 13) they were unlearned and ignorant men ; so much so, that 
their persecutors marvelled and took notice that the}' had been with 
Jesus. 

They so much resembled the crucihed Jesus in their teachings 
and doctrines, it was impossible to avoid seeing it, and that was one 
of the reasons why they persecuted the apostles, and so tried to stop 
the new doctrines. 

But did they stop it? The manly answers given by Peter and 
John convinced the Jews what kind of men they had to deal with, 
and so they let them go. 

They went and held a prayer meeting, putting the case be- 
fore the Lord, who at once answered by the Holy Ghost, and the 
place was shaken where they were assembled, so they were made 
stronger, and preached the word of God with boldness. 

Now, God himself approved the preaching of the Apostles, which 
is from the Bible, by his wonderful presence in this prayer meeting. 
Catholicism hides the Bible from the world. Now, to whom is the 
curse directed spoken of at the head of this chapter? Let the 
reader decide. 

Our closing remark of this chapter is, We cannot help admiring 
the boldness of this once timid Peter ; this wonderful power would 
never have come from crawling on a cell floor or doing penance. 
But now lie stands before his accusers, preaching the same Jesus of 
Nazareth whom they crucified, whom God raised from the dead, 
telling them they must come to this same Jesus for salvation. (Acts 
IV, 12.) "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none 
other name under heaven given, whereby we must be saved." Peter 
also says in I Peter, I, 25, " But the word of the Lord endureth for- 



POPERY NOT CHRISTIANITY. 27 

ever, and this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 
Then Peter preached from the Bible, believed it and knew it was the 
word of God. The Bible has alwaj^s been at variance with this 
baptized paganism ; it cannot bear the light. It has been at all times 
an exposer of their ways, and will ultimately be their ruin. 

These words of Peter, that there is no other name under heaven 
but Jesus, must be the reason why they have invented that blasphe- 
mous statement so common in their house or church of bondage that 
there is no salvation outside of their forms and ceremonies, and by 
this one statement have deceived more poor souls, and perhaps sent 
them to perdition than any other of their false dogmas. 



CHAPTER II. 

PETER NO POPE. 

"And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my 
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. "-Matthew XVI, 
i8, 19. 

THE above verses are taken from God's word, and are used by 
the very people that always repudiate the Bible. Excepting 
when it serves their purpose, to quote it. And then their interpre- 
tation is as wide from what it really ought to be, as the pole is from 
the zone. 

And from the above verses, the Roman Catholic Church build all 
their connection with the church of Christ, and that other myth. 
Apostolic Succession. 

We cannot always catch the full meaning of a verse, unless we 
understand the context or the chapter it is taken trom. 

Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do men say that I the son of man, 
am?" They made answer that some say you are John the Baptist, 
some say Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus 
again asks, "but whom say you I am?" Peter answered: "Thou 
art the Christ, the son of the living God." 
28 



PETER NO POPE. 2g 

Then Jesus said, "blessed art ihou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and 
blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in 
heaven." 

Then comes the words at the head of this chapter, "and on this rock 
will I build my church.'" On what rock? Peter? No; but on 
what Peter had said. Thou art Christ the son ol the living God. 
Jesus is this rock, and on himself does he build his church, he being 
the son of God. Learned writers agree that Peter translated from the 
Greek, Petrous is a stone and not a rock. Therefore Christ is the 
rock, Peter the stone. 

Now, what is a Church ? It is not Popes, Cardinals or Cathedrals ; 
a combination of men do not always make Christ's Church, it is his 
bod}', it consists of those who have surrendered their wills to God, 
and have had the same revelation Jesus told Peter he had had from 
God himself, who have had their sins pardoned by Jesus himself (for 
no man can pardon sins). Those who are living and trusting, in the 
attoning blood, and know that they are reconciled to God, these 
constitute the church and they are the bride of Christ, let them belong 
to what denomination they may. 

Some Roman Catholics say when spoken to, Jesus must have some 
one to represent him on earth. Well he has, but it is not men whose 
hands are full of blood and deceitfulness, grasping, greedy unscrup- 
ulous in everything ■\vicked, licentious, hypocrites, nothing in them 
like Jesus, but the name, Holy, which is used as a sign post, to cover 
up the unholy picture. These are not the men that represent Jesus. 
It is the humble, broken and contrite heart, that is lilled with his 
presence, and go forth without reward, other than a love to build up 
Christ's kingdom. JusLhere notice the meaning of the words, Jesus 
addressed to Peter, "blessed art thou, etc." 

Jesus knew his heart, and in saying, he was the son of God, he 
knew Peter was speaking truth. If he had said I think you arc the 
Christ, or you may be, he would not have called him blessed, but 



30 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL T 

he says thou art — he speaks positively — he knows, but he knew no 
more than any christian knows to da}', or has known from the day 
the words were spoken, that have been born again. 

And Jesus knew he knew, and therefore he said he was blessed. 
And that flesh and blood had not revealed it, but my Father which is 
in heaven. 

Here at one blow, Christ knocks to pieces all the pretentions of 
popery. 

It flesh and blood cannot reveal this to us, and without this revel- 
ation we are not christians, what good are popes? they are cer- 
tainly made of flesh and blood. So all they pretend, falls to the 
ground, by the verses they themselves select, unless they can give 
this revelation. 

Now supposing Christ had left his church on Peter's shoulders, 
how can this Italian church claim any connection with Peter and the 
apostles, except as antichrists, persecuter, violater, forcing out the 
right, substituting the wrong, driving out the true worship and setting 
up idolatry in its place — but this subject will occupy another chapter. 

They claim Peter as the first pope, and that the ver}' chair he used 
to sit in at Rome is now in their possession. 

He never had any chair in Rome as pope, if so where did thev 
keep it ; where was the churcli or cathedral in which it was used ; 
where was the congregation? 

If he was a pope he must have had bishops to preside over. Who 
were they? Name one of them? There were bishops at Jerusalem, 
Antioch, Alexandria, and other places, but not at Rome, and no 
connection one with the other, except brotherly love, and the 
christians had no settled place to worship in at Rome excepting in 
the caves and dens of the earth, neither had they any land to build a 
church on at Rome. 

The iirst land that was purchased by christians, not Roman 
Catholics for that purpose, and by permission must have been about 



PETER NO POPE. 3 1 

145 years after Peter's death, supposing he lived to be 80 years 
old or as history tells in the years from 211 to 249. 

Gibbons says : '••But the laws which Severus had enacted soon ex- 
pired with the authority of that emperor and the christians after that 
accidental tempest enio3'ed a calm of thirty-eight years. 

Till this period they had usually held their assemblies in private 
houses and sequestered places. They were now permitted to erect 
and consecrate convenient edifices for the purpose of religious 
worship, to purchase lands, about A. D. 230, even at Rome itself for 
the use of the communit}-, and to conduct the election of their 
ecclesiastical ministers in so public but at the same time in so ex- 
emplary a manner as to deserve the respectful attention of the 
Gentiles. (Gibbons Vol. 2, page 49.) 

So the pagans of that day could not help noticing the change 
religion had made in its converts. The Romans had so long been 
accustomed to their paganism, that in most cases christians were 
either viewed as a curosity or with hatred. So tyranical is custom, it 
had become a settled law with them, that idolatry must be pleasing 
to the gods, and these inovations were looked on in some cases with 
contempt, and the repose the christians now enjoyed was subject to 
fluctuations, as in the next reign prosecution again set in, but 
this was more of a local character. And in the days of the apostles 
there were less christians at Rome than in other places, and of 
course no need of a pope even if there had been Roman Catholics, 
as they had not as yet formed an organization notwithstanding their 
fables or traditions, which are of no consequence. We go by the 
word of God backed by secular history. 

We have seaiched everything we can find to see when Peter went 
to Rome, and how long he remained there, but cannot find his name 
mentioned by anyone. 

Mad he spent liis lite there, we should surely have heard some- 
thing about him. Had lie been bishop Paul would have mentioned 



32 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

it, for Paul was taken a prisoner to Rome for preaching the Gospel 
of Christ as given in the old and new testaments. 

Had he been a recognized bishop or pope we should hear some- 
thing about his trying to get Paul released. For if Christianity had 
been so popular why imprison Paul and not Peter? The fact was it was 
not recognized under the reign of the Caesars, and it was impossible 
for an organized christian church to live in Rome at the period of 
Peter's life. On the contrary there is nothing in histor}^ to prove 
that Peter was ever in Rome. 

But we do get to know in the bible history, where he was during 
all this time he is said to be so safely lodged in his chair at Rome. 

Now for proof. In the I. chapter of Galations i8th verse, in the 
5'ear A. D. 35, we find Paul goes to Arabia for three years, and then 
after three years goes up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and then in the II. 
chapter oi same, ist verse, Paul goes again to Jerusalem after fourteen 
years, and then in 9th verse of same chapter he finds Cephas (Peter) 
who with others seemed to be pillars, firmly established at Jerusalem. 
This would consume seventeen to twenty years to this date. 

And note here he was not even a bishop, but an elder, for one of 
the other apostles, was bishop of Jerusalem. See I. Peter V, i, he 
says, "I am an elder." Now when Paul goes to Rome it is twelve 
years later, or the year 64 and no Peter there. Up to this there must 
have been about thirty years of Peter's apostolic life consumed, and he 
irettinof to be an old man, but still all this time we are told he was in 
Rome, performing the office of pope. 

Perhaps, why not, walking up the marble steps or lioly stairs, 
which the tradition of the Roman Church, says Christ descended on 
retiring from the hall of judgment, when Pilate had passed sentence 
on him and which stairs the angels, conveyed from Jerusalem to 
Rome. 

There are stairs to be found in tlie palace of the Latterannow, but 
not at that early date, and every one who climbs them on his knees, 



PETER NO POPE. 33 

merits an indulgence ot fifteen years for each ascent. Oli I What 
flinsy cobwebs, the church of Rome is built on and to think they can 
still in this 19th century impose on some, as they did in the dark 
ages, made dark by this very system. It seems almost incredible and 
yet there are many to-day whose eyes are so blinded that nothing 
seems too much to be believed, and they can be persuaded that this is 
Christianity. 

But let us put to rest the last thought that Peter ever lived in 
Rome. 

In the IV. chapter ot the I. Peter and 13th verse, he says in addres- 
sing the strangers throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and 
Bithyna. "Thejchurc^ that is at Babylon saluteth you." This was the 
method used in those days of giving their address or where they 
write from, Paul did the same. So Peter's epistles were written 
from Babylon, far away from Rome. It is thought not until after 
Paul's death. 

Now, the term Babylon or Great Babylon applies to Rome to-day, 
as prophesied by John, but could not have meant Rome then, as the 
events which were to make it Babylon the Great, had not occurred. 
They were to be done by the prophetical beast, like unto a Leopard, 
see Revelations XIII, i, 2 (this will be explained in its place) who 
received her power from the dragon, and who made war with the 
saints, and opened her mouth in blasphemy against God, and the 
woman that sat on the beast had not yet been made drunk with the 
blood of the saints. All this did not happen fully, for nearly sixteen 
centuries after these epistles o't Peter were written which were about 
the years 60 or 66. Peter must have been getting to be an old man 
by this time. If as is supposed he was older than our Lord, he 
might have been 70 or 75 and at that time in the far away Babylon. 

Let us see the distance this old man would have to travel to reach 
Rome from Babvlon. 



34 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

From Jerusalem to the modern town of Hillah, on the river Eu- 
phrates, which stands on a part of the site of Ancient Bab3'lon, must 
be at least 500 miles, but so much farther away irom Rome. And 
to get from Babylon to Rome in a straight line, must be 1500 miles 
at least, but the great difficulties of travelling, in those days, would 
add 200 lo the above, going from port to port, making full 1700 miles 
for Peter to travel ; he would have to go with some caravan a part of 
the way. It would have been almost impossible, in those days to go 
alone, and he would have to wait at different ports, for ships lo go 
perhaps a part of the wa}^ So it seems a very improbable story, 
that he could have been pope at Rome so man}^ ^^ears, as claimed by 
the papacy, and so the tale of his martyrdom head downwards, at 
Rome, must have occurred long afterwards. We believe it to be a 
fable. The people of this church that wrote about Peter, in their 
traditions, did it at least, eight centuries after his death and knew 
nothing at all about him ; they had not the facilities of finding out 
then, as we have to-day. 

Their whole writings belong to that convenient mythology, which 
the papacy so delights in and which forms under the name of tradi- 
tion, the whole foundation ot their system. 

Peter's life must have been passed as an evangelist. We hear of 
him in many places. He went about preaching God's truth which 
is the bible, and this is no doubt what took him to Babylon. 

His headquarters were at Jerusalem nearly 1000 miles from Rome. 

He went about doing the same work our evangelists do to-day. 

At gatherings we now call revival meetings, earnestly exhorting 

men to repent and believe the Gospel. Paul speaks of meeting him 

in Antioch and other places. 

He must have had a large acquaintance to address his epistles to 
so many, at such different places. We hear of his evangelising at 
Joppa, Damascus, Cesarea, Tarsus, Lydda, Antioch, Capernaum. 
This latter place Peter lived with his wife and wife's mother. Let 



PETER NO POPE. 35 

US now consider the true meaning of the last part of the verse head- 
ing this chapter. "And the gates ol hell shall not prevail against it." 

Jesus knew the efforts that would be made by the enemy of man- 
kind, to break up his kingdom, b}- all his agencies, human and 
Satanic. 

Therefore these words were given as an encouragement to his 
people, never to faint or give up, and to remember however dark and 
dreary things may look, in the end victory would be sure. 

And this hope must have animated his people, in the dreadful dark 
ages, when they were being hunted like beasts, torn to pieces by 
wild animals, refused shelter or even a cup of cold water, crucified, 
burned to death in cold blood, and in a hundred ways too horrible to 
mention. And all this under the insulting name of heretic were the 
people of God persecuted by this greatest of hell's gates (the popish 
church) and to cap the climax, since wholesale massacres were not 
sufficient, the holy, did you ever see a w^ord so prostituted, as to call 
that den of monstrous iniquity, the inquisition, holy? Well, we can 
judge by that what is meant by the word. 

The holy inquisition was brought into use, and men, women and 
children were taken in there, and alas I seldom seen again on 
earth. Nothing left but bones, tetters and evidence of cruelty 
too dreadful to be thought of, and for what? Because thev 
served their God in the manner and spirit their master commanded, 
and as it is written in His hoh' word, or because they would or could 
not believe in the false statements of popery. And so this greatest 
of helFs gates, has been fighting against God from their starting 
point, and will fight as long as God permits them to breath on this 
earth. 

Jesus told Peter he would give to him the Keys of the King- 
dom of Heaven. 

This has no special reference to future life, its meaning is for this 
earth. 



36 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

To be in the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God is to be 
in a state where preparation has actually begun for the next life. In 
John III, 3, Jesus says: ''Unless a man be born again, he cannot 
see the kingdom of God." That is he cannot understand anything 
of God's method of working in the christian heart. And then Jesus 
describes how to enter this kingdom, by the operation of the Holy 
Ghost. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and you hear the sound 
thereof, and cannot tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." 
So are they that are born of the spirit. Jesus is revealed to you in 
the same manner as he was to Peter. 

The writer has gone through this form of spiritual birth, and 
knows he is in the kingdom, and so do all that have gone through 
this same form and have not to wait till death, they are in it now. 
Oh, what a perversion ot the scriptures to change this expression of 
the keys from earth to heaven. To pretend a poor man has the 
power to open or shut heaven against an immortal soul. 

Jesus opens, and no man shuts, and shuts and no man opens. 
(See Revelations III, 7.) 

He had previously told some, the kingdom of heaven was nigh 
unto them. He told the rich young man he was not far from the 
kingdom, and again, how hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. 

At this time Jesus had not been glorilied, but after his crucifixion 
all things were ready. Then Peter began to use his keys in the 
manner and purpose for which they were given. Namely, to open 
the kingdom to all believers, and on that wonderful day of Penticost 
his first sermon converted about three thousands souls. On this dav 
he opened the kingdom to the Jews. He had yet to open it to the 
Gentiles and then his keys ended. 

Every protestant knows there were no keys delivered, but it was a 
term given to the ofhce Christ had now appointed Peter to. 



PETER NO POPE. 37 

Some of the papists do not seem to understand it in this way, or 
we should not see women sometimes dressed in a livery, dangling a 
bunch of keys at the end of a piece of ribbon. 

If they only knew what they were doing, they would hide them- 
selves, rather than flaunt this insult in the face of God. 

And can we not learn a lesson from these keys, and show the 
difference between God's plan and the pope's? 

God's plan is to elevate men, the pope's to reduce them to nonen- 
tities, any man so unfortunate as to be in their grasp, and having the 
desire for elevation to God, is sent to a cell to grovel on a floor, cold 
as the church, to constantly repeat prayers to dead people, called 
saints, and to do disgusting penances one of which is to kiss the leet 
of each other, to kiss the floor, eat tood like a dog or cat, and a host 
of other things, and so reduce the man or woman to such a miserable 
state of existence, that they are not even fit for the companionship of 
each other. 

In that case how can they do God's work, which is to draw men 
and women, and point them to Jesus and tell ot the happiness they 
experience, in the service of the Lord. 

This is only a small part ot the pope's plan to perfect their dupes, 
in. holiness. 

Now let us see what God did for Peter. We have just said he 
opened the kingdom to the Jews, and for that work he was prepared 
on the da}' of Penticost. 

Now he is going to the Gentiles, and a fresh preparation is neces- 
sary. 

Peter was a Jew, and was considerably pufled up by the fact that 
God had chosen them to show the world through them his plan of 
salvation. Jesus was also a Jew. These facts, had made all the 
Jews think themselves superior to every one else, so much so, that 
they would not eat with the Gentiles, or eat anything that they con- 
sidered common or unclean. See Acts X, 14. 



38 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Now God was going to send him to open the kingdom to the Gen- 
tiles, was going to send him to Cesarea, to an important man, but a 
very devout one, a Gentile named Cornelius, and in order to preach 
the Gospel, Peter must stay at his house several da3-s ; how could he 
come close to this man's heart, and tell him all men were equal in 
the sight of God, if he would not touch or eat and drink with him. 

This was a foolish prejudice, nearly two thousand years old, but it 
was there, and it must be removed. Well, how was it removed, did 
he go into a cell for a number of years, did he call on saints, did he 
kiss anyone's feet or do penance, or get a dispensation from any- 
body ? No ! When God moves, he works quick. Peter up to this 
moment knew nothing about where he was going to be sent. But 
just as he was waiting for a meal, he went up to the house top to 
pray, and all at once God sends him into a trance. See Acts X. 10- 
16. And all these prejudices, of so man}^ years standing, were 
rooted out in less than perhaps halt an hour. 

When God takes hold of a heart, he teaches him more in half an 
hour, than all the schools of philosophy or Theology can do in a life 
time. 

And this was not at all, for the man and the family he was going to 
see was prepared for his visit, b}' the same Holy Ghost. 

And when he got there, they compared experience, and the whole 
household, and friends were baptized with water and the spirit. 

And so Peter used his keys, and opened the kingdom to the Gen- 
tiles, and there the keys ended. Some will say, well that might 
have been done in the apostolic days, but it is not done now. To 
that the writer will say, it is done in the present day, for he has had 
similar experiences, and the party to whom he has been sent, has 
had a similar preparation to meet him and by the same spirit. 

How easy to take a passage of scripture and so misinterpret it that it 
may have the appearance of truth to eyes not accustomed to read the 
bible, and it may answer for a time amongst a certain class, but 



PETER NO POPE. • 3Q 

when the light shines upon it, its glaring imposture is at once seen. 
So it is with the false interpretations of the words of Jesus when he 
gave the keys to Peter, by this Roman church. 

It was done in an age when the world had only been shaken up 
from the sleep of superstition, and had been so accustomed to all 
kinds of absurdities, that the greater the cheat the easier it seemed 
to be believed in. 

And it answered the purpose ot this socalled church well. 

For advantage was taken of the general ignorance ot the world, 
and a great power seemed to be invested in this church. 

We arc not speaking of the days of Peter, but of the days when 
the Roman church first begun to use his name. 

This was their strongest weapon. People were made to believe 
this church could keep them out or give them admission to heaven. 
And the taking Peter's and the apostles' names and adding them to 
their hierarch}^ seemed to confirm them in this power. 

The object of giving the book had been already explained. Their 
reason for adopting this method was to awe the people into sub- 
mission. 

And when to it they added the bulls of excommunication, with 
other terrors, it seemed like a voice from God, to people full of 
superstition, and it made all tremble from the highest to the lowest. 

It was easy under such circumstances to control the minds of men 
and women, yes, and their bodies were not sacred from their grasp, 
to bring the riches of the world to the feet of the popes and priests, 
and to rivet the chains of darkness on their hearts. 

And yet with all this deception, it was not a new weapon. Popery 
borrows from all and never returns. Not even honest enough to 
acknowledge, from whom they get it — but keep holding on as if tliey 
were the inventors, and had a patent already out. 



4© WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL? 

This idea of keys, as they use it, is borrowed from the Egyptians ; 
and two thousand years before the Bishop of Rome pretended to 
hold the keys to heaven and hell. There was an Eg3'ptian priest 
with the high sounding title: "Appointed keeper of the two doors of 
heaven," in the city of Thebes. This city was the largest in Egypt 
at that time, but now it is almost gone, like many of the heathen 
cities. They flourish for a time, and then decay. And such will be 
the tate of Rome, if the interpretation of its fate, as prophesied by 
John, be correct. (See Revelation XVIII. 8, 21-24.) " Therefore 
shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning and famine ; 
and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God 
who judgeth her. " 

"And a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great mill-stone, and 
cast it into the sea, saying: 'Thus, with violence, shall that great 
city, Babylon, be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.' " 

"And the voices of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trum- 
peters shall be heard no more at all in thee, and no craftsman, of 
whatsoever craft, he be, shall be found any more in thee, and the 
sound of a mill-stone shall be heard no more at all in thee." 

"And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee, and 
the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more 
at all in thee, for thy merchants were the great men of the earth ; 
for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived, and in her was found 
the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon 
the earth." 

There is no city in the world that answers the above but Rome, 
and that answers to the letter. No wonder the Bible is hid, and in 
the face of these warnings they are trying to force this abomination 
back on the world, still keeping up this farce about Peter and the 
apostles, and in some places this tj^anny is in force. 

It is clear to me ; this fable of Peter being a pope has no foun- 
dation in fact, and cannot be found, excepting in the traditions of 



PETER NO POI'E. 4I 

this so-called church, written perhaps a thousand years after his 
death, and for the purpose of blinding the ignorant ; and if these 
men who called themselves priests are ignorant, it is their own fault. 

History is open to them it they have the courage to seek ft. If 
they are kept from it by prejudice, or slavish fear, they are not fit 
to be teachers, and the souls of their poor dupes will be required at 
their hands. 

God has laid down one rule for the past, present and future ; and 
no root that is not of his planting can ultimately triumph. Still 
these roots have and do exist. 

The tares have grown with the wheat, and at one time, was per- 
mitted to almost choke the wheat, but that time has passed, and I 
Relieve forever. 

The evil was working, side by side with the early christians, but 
not ot them. 

Paul says, in II. Thessalonians 2, 7 : 

" For the mystery of iniquity, does already work; only he who 
now letteth, will let, until he be taken out of the way." 

So an apostacy was at work at that day ; and what a great hin- 
derance it must have been to the Christians, when we consider of 
what materials society was composed. 

So many sects had sprung out of the Jewish religion : some for 
circumcision : some for uncircumcision : some for and against the 
resurrection; strife?, about meat offered to idols, and the reverse. 
And then these wholesale Polytheists. What a cradle foi' Christi- 
anity to be introduced to the world. Truly, it had a wonderful 
baptism — a baptism of blood and strife — and had it not been ot 
divine origin, it would have died out with the apostles instead of 
conquering the nations it was born in, and in the fourth century 
becoming the state of religion of the Roman Empire. 

During the reign of that tyrant, Nero, the few christians in Rome 
were looked upon with contempt, or indifl'erence, b}- most of the 



42 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

people. Nero inflicted great and terrible tortures on those men whO' 
took their religion from a man named Christ, who sufl^ered under 
Pontus Pilate, and stopped partially the heresy so called. 

He nailed some on crosses, others sewed up in the skins ofr 
wild beasts and given to the dogs ; others were covered over witb 
combustible matter and set fire to, to light up the dark nights.. 
This was done in the circus and gardens of Nero and the V'atican. 
This was the theatre in which the horrors of persecution commenced, 
and where these so-called Holy Popes have, since their introduction 
in the seventh century, issued forth their orders to their slaves, for 
the rtiost wicked acts the annals of crime can record. 

And truly, Nero was a type of his successors in cruelty, in the 
persons of these so-called holy men. 

Under such circumstances, as these, a Pope, would not be likely 
to have such good limes as they have had since, or to enjoy the 
dangers of a religion so despised at that period in Rome. No, they 
are not made of the stuff that courts danger, they can inflict tortures, 
on others, but when it comes to themselves. Oh ! that is quite- 
another thing. 

Would the people that could brave these sufferings, for the love- 
of God, or have their names branded by such a wretch as Nero,, 
their property confiscated, home taken away, everything that makes- 
life desirable torn from them, even life itself ? 

I ask, could such people recognize the presence of a pope when-, 
they knew it was a sin even to call one by that name ? For it- 
means father. And Christ commanded us all to call no man father- 
in a spiritual sense, on the earth. He said there w^as but one father,, 
even God, and in the same sense to call no one master, for there is 
but one master, even Christ. 

So if there had been a pope with all his earthly trappings, and 
his cathedrals, and music to drown the senses, he might have 
deceived those who were accustomed to idolatry, but not those who> 



PETER NO POPE. 43 

counted their lives as nothing for the glory of God, and for the 
good of his cause ; and we believe all this talk about Peter being a 
pope is nothing but a fable ; the coinage of the brain of some of the 
members of this so-called church. We shall show in another 
chapter, when popery really begun. 



CHAPTER III. 
CONSTANTINE, THE CHILD OF THE APOCALYPSE. 

■"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the 
sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
twelve stars. 

And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be 

delivered. 
And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod 

of iron; and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." 

Revelation XII. i, 2, 5. 

THE writer's intention is to show in this chapter, in some 
measure, what the early christians were, and to compare 
them with Roman Catholics, so that there may be no mistake 
■as to what church the}- belonged. 

This will take us up to when Constantine became emperor of 
Rome, and even a little later. 

Many still think, and the Roman Church still teaches that they 
"were the christians of the first centuries. That falsehood must 
cease. It makes no difference what pretensions they make. The 
Gospel was the same then as now ; we say it is a libel on the Bible 
to call popery Christianity, but many good souls are caught in this 
trap. 

We think we have proved in our last chapter that Peter was no 
pope, and as they still cling to that foolish and wicked pretension, 
why may they not be wrong in all the rest? 
44 



CONSTANTINE. 45 

The tirst question almost always asked by Roman Catholics is^ 
when you speak to them about religion, " Was not ours the first 
church?" 

They are deceived into this impression by those who ought to be 
better informed. 

Catholicism did not exist ; the Popish Church could not have stood 
its ground in the first centuries, only as a rival ; it being itself 
pagan. To have existed, it must have entered into competition 
with the worship of that day, and war would have destroyed one of 
the parties. It might have joined hands, but could not have stood 
alone, and it has nothing that it can recognize as christian, excepting 
the name. The Popish church has had to change some of its forms 
to meet the light of the present day, but not any of its spirit ; it is 
as revengeful and as implacable as ever ; it is only waiting the 
opportunity. 

If we understand aright the verses at the head of this chapter, it 
will help us in the stand we take on the part of Christianity and 
against popery. 

This is part of a prophecy by John, and from Christ himself, and 
in the same Apocalypse as brands popery as an invention from 
the bottomless pit, and the greatest of all blasphemies. And if John 
is right, then popery must be wrong, for this is the witness of God 
himself. 

And who doubts it, especially, since it has been fulfilled. None^ 
but infidels, and those interested in palming off the counterfeit. 

John says, ''And I saw," and the things he saw were all to come 
shortl}'. One thousand years is a short time in the history of the 
world. His vision has now reached the time of Constantine's con- 
version — the man ciiild that was caught up to God and his throne. 

This is the birth spoken of, Constantine's spiritual birth ; he was 
rescued from the pagan world and caught up to the christian : that 
is, God and his throne. 



46 WHY HAVB PRIESTS AT ALL? 

This woman, or christian church, was filled with the righteousness 
of Christ, or the sun of righteous, and as she will rise above all 
■other systems, and religions, so did she begin, by putting the Jewish 
religion under her feet. The moon being its emblem, and the 
twelve stars are the twelve apostles from which she receives her 
doctrines. 

Constantine's father gave up idolatry and became a christian, and 
taught the principles to his son, who became a christian ; he became 
emperor, and it is almost certain his father prayed for him, and 
that might be the reason that he was born pious. God answers 
prayer. There have been men and women in aJl ages, born with a 
desire for piety ; have had yearnings and longings after the true 
God, the laws of God written on their hearts, a hungering after the 
truth, and many have found God. Others have been led into idol 
worship, and have never found that peace that belongs to the 
christian. 

Luther was one of these ; he tried in his cells at the monasterv to 
obtain peace, tried all the prescriptions that were offered b}' the 
church he reverenced at this time, in the form of penances, Ave 
Marys, counting beads, and all the nonsense of popery, but the 
more he did the worse he became : no rest da}^ or night ; almost a 
maniac, until the Bible was brought to him secretly by a brother, 
wdio had learned God's plan, and for the tirst time was told that 
God requires no sacrifice, except a broken heart, and that the 
just must live by faith ; then the light burst in upon him, and he 
found that peace he had sought for in vain in the mustv traditions of 
popery. 

Constantine was one of these sent by God to do his will, and he 
came at the time John had said he would come. 

A great deal has been written about his motives in joining the 
christians ; some say it was self interest, hypocrisy, to gain power. 



CONSTANTINE. 47 

and many other things, but God's word settles the question. It 
says, he came with the sun of righteousness in his heart. 

This child was sent to make the christian rehgion the religion of 
the empire, raised as God raised Pharaoh for a purpose. 

Then how much easier to see he became a christian because he 
loved it, and repudiated the idolatry of his day. 

We read of his waiting until the general congregations were 
dismissed, and then praying with the people, which is the duty and 
privilege of ever}- la3'man. 

Also preaching on the most sublime and intricate subjects of theo- 
log}' and disputing with the bishops and assuming the character of 
priest, for every converted man is a prince and priest unto God. 
And the only real priests since Christ's crucifixion. 

There may be many acts of his life that we, from this distance 
and age of improvement, could not tolerate, but remember he was a 
warrior, and lived in an age of cruelt}- ; but the world was made 
better for his having lived in it, and had they taken him for an 
example, the lot of mankind would have greatl}' improved, but men 
are stubborn ; and have to be taught severe lessons ; therefore this 
scourge of poperv was not allowed to take its course. 

And in the after centuries when it did come, it plunged the world 
into misery, blood, war, rapine, desolation, and a dai'kness that 
could be felt, making most men slaves, brutes, ignorant, wretched, 
and causing such poverty as we in this day have no conception. 

And this is the fruit of popery, and this is the blessing they are 
preparing for us in this almost twentieth century, in free America, 
in free England, and other places, made free by the use of the Bible 
only. And this night of horror would have-continued till now if God 
had not sent Luther, and the other reformers with the Bible that had 
been locked up, and sent it broadcast, and then these dear saints, 
who co-operated with Luther, and protested, and sent up such a 
wail of their wrongs to heaven, and to the whole of Europe and other 



48 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

places, Rome included, that made that arch-enemy, the pope, 
tremble ; and they have not recovered to this day, and by the help 
of God they never shall. 

Oh my beloved adopted country, I am with you in this great 
wrong ; we are brothers in this cause, and I do regret when I speak 
to find so many not posted in the history of these people. Once 
read their history, and you will be forever iron clad against their 
wicked devices. 

There are so many books printed that will give such a sickening 
account of their brutality to your fellow men and women. 

Once know, and you would forever spurn any of their doctrines, 
and have no connection with them, except to do them good — to 
draw them out of this worse than apostacy, and show them Christ's 
way of salvation. Before I go farther let me give the opinion of 
a few others of the religious state of the world in Constantine's day, 
and then vou will see who were christians at that time. 

The following is from a work called offices of the Holy Spirit, by 
Dougan Clark, M. D. 

"At the time when Christianity was introduced in the world, the 
mythological religion, of the ancient Greeks prevailed, with greater 
or less modifications, throughout the Roman Empire. That religion 
was an idolatrous polytheism. It recognized gods many, and lords 
many. It had become incorporated with the institutions of almost 
every country. 

The common people accepted, without question, the absurdities 
and superstitions which this religion inculcated ; while they prac- 
ticed without scruple, the sensual vices and bacchanalian revels, 
which it sanctioned. 

But this was not all, learning and genious were also consecrated 
to the heathen divinities, and exhausted their eft'orts in laving 
exquisite oft'erings upon their shrines. 



CONSTANTINE. 49 

In every principal city, some magnificent triumph of architecture 
would be exhibited to admiring visitors, in the shape of a temple in 
honor of one of the gods or goddesses. 

With brush or chisel, or canvass, or in marble, the most beautiful 
representation of the human form or face divine, were produced as 
likeness of a Jupiter, or a Venus, an Appollo, or a Diana, a Cupid, 
or a Mercury. 

Poets and musicians obtained a world wide reputation, by perpe- 
tuating in verse or in song, the beautiful stories of legendary lore, 
wherein the divine and the human, the natural and the supernatural 
were strangely but skilfully blended. 

The interests of the ordinary artisan, were likewise bound up with 
the idolatrous religion of the world. 

Thousands of image makers in many cities would say with Deme- 
trius : 'By this craft we have our wealth,' and opposed everything 
calculated to bring discredit upon the religion whereby they earned 
their daily bread, with the angry and despairing cry. 

'Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' 

There were some evidences indeed that the Lord was preparing 
our fallen race for its deliverer. 

That many were growing weary of the vague and unsatisfactory 
superstitions of the day — that the world was as it were, pausing in 
expectation of some great event when Deity became incarnate in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. However this may be, the apostles were to 
make no compromise with idolatry. 

If they had been only setters forth of strange gods. If they had 
had nothing to bring before the world except questions of their own 
superstitions, and of Jesus who was dead, whom Paul affirmed 
to be alive. If they had simply preached Jesus as another God in 
addition to the many gods, whom Asia and the world worshipped, if 
they had simply asked for a niche in the heathen temples, where a 



50 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Statute of Christ should be placed beside those of their Olympic 
deities, or of their heroes and demi-gods, it is possible that they 
would have encountered but little opposition. 

But the apostles were to proclaim the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ, whom he had sent. 

They were to call upon people to turn from these vanities unto the 
living God which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all 
things that are therein. 

They were to boldly assert, even surrounded by splendid edifices, 
that God dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is wor- 
shipped with men's hands, because he had written his laws in their 
hearts, and that the god-head must not be regarded as like unto gold 
or silver, or stone graven by art and man's device. 

They were to preach to Jew and Gentile alike, that there is no 
other name under heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be 
saved, except the name of a crucified and risen Jesus. 

And that God now commands all men to repent, because he hath 
appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, 
bv that man whom he hath chosen. 

At the name of Jesus every knee was to bow of things in heaven, 
and things in earth and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord to the glory of God the Father. 

These doctrines necessarily struck at the root of all false religions 
and were a declaration of war, uncompromising and exterminating 
war against idolatry. 

They aimed at nothing less than the overturning of superstitious 
opinions and practices which had descended from antiquity, which 
were established in the popular mind and heart — -which were identi- 
fied with the interests of a large number of the community — and in 
honor of which had been produced the loftiest creations of genius 
and art which the world has ever seen. 



CONSTANTINE. 51 

Now it must be confessed that ior a dozen unlearned Galitean 
fishermen this was no small undertaking. 

One man of learning indeed was afterwards added to their num- 
ber, but even he, in addition to his culture and his talent, was filled 
with the Holy Ghost, that of the " Apostle of the Gentiles " (Office 
of Holy Spirit, by Doogan Clark, M. D.) joined together, but this 
made a wider opening for the coming revived paganism. 

It is evident Popery was unknown as an organized power for 
nearly three centuries after this. It was certainly unknow A. D. 
325, the following is evidence so far. 

"Still the primacy of Rome was a thing unheard of. Manifestly 
the 300 Fathers who assembled A. D. 325 at Nicaea, knew nothing 
of it, for in their sixth and seventh canons they expressly recognize 
the authority of the churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and 
others, each within its own bounderies. Even as Rome had juris- 
diction within its limits, and enact that the jurisdiction and the 
privileges of these churches shall be retained." (Wylie history of 
Protestant, vol i, page 9.) 

Let me say here, even in face of the fear of repetition, if God 
raised up Constantine to his will, and at the same time denounces 
Poper}' as antichrist, could the church that he protected, and joined 
to the state, be any but christian, or as it is called to day Protestant? 

So the church of Christ had fought its way through the courage 
and fidelity of pastors and laymen to be the religion of the empire, 
facing death in the most dreadful and sickening manner ; truly a 
wonderful harvest and only begining from a child in the manger, 
and whose life was sought for, even at that early date. 

Had this not been of divine origin we should have heard no more 
of it after the crucifixion of Jesus ; but it came to stay, and will 
cover the earth one day in the near future, as the waters cover the 
ocean. 



52 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

But now a new danger springs up, not from without but from 
within. 

This church so humble, and yet so powerful amid poverty and 
danger, begins to loose strength amid prosperity. Corruption began 
to creep in, and from the fourth century the lamp of life began to 
grow dim. The Bible began to be hidden trom the people, and the 
pastors to change from the humble friend of the family, to the osten- 
tatious head of the church. 

Previous to this the pastors of Rome went about as do our protes- 
tant ministers of to-day, visiting at each house, praying, singing to 
and exhorting their flocks, taking their Bible with them instructing 
and strengthening them in the faith, weeping with those that weep, 
rejoicing with those that rejoice, and sympathizing with all. 

The feet of those that brought good tidings were alwa^^s welcome. 

But now things wer^i gradually changing. The ministers of 
Christ began to receive large salarys, and to affect titles of dignit\-. 
There was in fact becoming a great distinction between pastor and 
people. 

The spirit Of the humble Narazine was departing ; they usurped 
authority over the people, and they clung to creeds and councils 
rather than^the word of God. 

And Constantine, raised of God to carry out his purpose, en- 
couraged unknowingly the above pride in the ministers ; his kind- 
ness and defterence to them added to their importance. Joining 
church and state gave strength to the christians at that time, but oh, 
what a wedge^for corruption I 

It was the cradle of that coming power, that afterwards bid 
defiance to kings and everything that stood in its way, even to the 
blaspheming of Godliimself. 

It was1the|^foundation stone of that Babylon the great, that mada 
all nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornications. 



CONSTANTINE. 53 

The primative church had been a brotherhood, bearing each 
other's burdens, and losing their lives, pastor and people together; 
but now there was torming an heirarchv. Splendor and rank began 
to show themselves, rites and ceremonies borrowed from the pagan 
began to be introduced, riches, flattery and power waited upon the 
bishop of Rome. The Emperor called him Father. The Bible was 
soon withdrawn from the pulpit and fables introduced in its place. 
The clergy began to neglect their education. They lost that inward 
power, without which religion is only a farce. 

They used indeed water babtism, but the real baptism of the spirit 
was lost. And the clergy that once loved their flock and obeyed 
the voice of Jesus, when he said " feed my sheep, feed my lambs," 
could do so no longer, having nothing more to give. 

And so they became austere, proud, and even in some cases 
ferocious, and forgot the real relations to the laiety, held themselves 
aloof, giving their time to doutful pleasures, to wine and other 
amusements. 

So their lamp went out, and with it the people became starved, 
and their knowledge of God became very feeble — the teachers, hav- 
lost their spiritual life, could no longer impart it. 

The bishop of Rome now wore costlv clothing, gave banquets, 
and traveled in litters. This caused the woman (the church) to hide 
herself and to go, as John said, into the wilderness, (see Revelation 
XII, 6) where a place was prepared for her of God, that they should 
feed her there, a thousand, two hundred and three score days (1260 
years) that being the time popery should have power, and while that 
power lasted, the world would be in a wilderness state. Afterwards 
she would come forth again with greater brilliancy. 

God has always reserved to himself, ten thousand, that have not 
bowed the knee to Bad, and so it was then. This church was 



54 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

nursed in the place prepared for her, namely in the hearts of his 
hunted and persecuted people, and we hear of them all through the 
dark ages. 

Sometimes it will be in the company of such brilliant, and God- 
fearing men as Luther, in Germany, and the host that followed him, 
or with Zwingle or the Swiss church, the Waldenses and the church 
of the Alps, with Wicliffe and Lattimer of England, Knox in Scot- 
land, the great Calvin of France with the martyrs, Huss and 
Jerome, and the millions that gave their time and lives in all 
countries. 

We find it also nursed at the stake, the rack, the dungeon, the 
inquisition, the massacres, and everywhere in the heart?-' of those 
protesting against popery, and serving the true God, against all 
perils. We shall devote a few chapters on the subject of Atrosities 
used by this horrid power to crush out this woman (the church) and 
to prevent her coming out of the wilderness. 

Any man or body of men, can easil}' practice a mechanical 
religion, especially when it is accompanied with great pomp, music 
of the choir, fine dresses, a large congregation, a fine church or 
cathedral that echoes and re-echoes every sound, and gives to the 
place the appearance of a sacred character : this can be found an}'- 
where — in the Hindu Temples, in the mosques of Turkey and 
Egypt, at the Buddhist gatherings, Roman Catholic cathedrals, in 
fact this is about all they have, for their gods are gods of clay, and 
this ritualism is a substitute for the heart religion of Christ, and has 
been practiced by the nations of the earth. 

And whatsoever forms each religion may adopt to distinguish 
them from each other, still the vital principle is the same. 

Many have been heard to say. Oh, the world is full of religions^ 
hundreds of them, and we are puzzled to know which is right. 

You need not be confounded for with all the outward show, there 
are but two religions in the world. 



CONSTANTINE. 55 

One of Christ's and one of man's. 

If vou compare these latter, of what ever name, you will find thej 
are all the same. They are all the religion of the head, invented by 
Satan. They are all of a sacrificing character, doing something to 
earn the future, whether it be the hunting ground, paradise, heaven, 
or whatsoever name they give it ; still they are praying for it in 
money or works. 

Where is the difference between the Hindu who allows himself to 
be drawn up by a pully with a ring or hook fastened to his flesh, in- 
flicting self tortures, or the horse hair or wire shirt next to the skin 
that the penance of the Roman Church requires? or the Hindu 
devotees dragging the car of juggernauts and immolating them- 
selves? 

The religion of Christ does not require self-torments. It teaches 
men to endure that which God is pleased to put upon them for dis- 
ciplinary purposes. 

They do not have to pay for religion, it is given tree by faith in 
him who gave his life for them ; and as he is righteous and won lor 
them a full salvation, so do they accept it by faith, and his right- 
eousness stands in the place of their canceled sin. 

And again, what secret satisfaction the dying Brahmin feels when 
holding the tail of the sacred cow, and by this means he thinks to 
enter heaven. Now where is the difference in the spirit of this 
idolatry, to the dying Roman Catholic feeling satisfaction in the eat- 
ing of a wafer God, the last offices of his church, and thinking this 
will in some way or other, open for him the gates of heaven, or pur- 
gatory no matter if he has repented or not? 

Who is responsible for all this wickedness? For it is nothing else 
but Satan keeping hold of his victims to the last moment, and keep- 
ing them from looking to Jesus by these human inventions. Oh, ye 
priests so-called, stop ! for you are responsible. God will require 
the blood of these poeple at your hands. 



56 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Take the Japanese Buddhist ; they have even their Protestants. 
For the members of the Shin sect founded in 12 13 (this is a denomi- 
nation growing out of Buddhism) protest against penance, fasting, 
pilgrimages, convents, monastries, hermitages, charms, amulets and 
the reading of the Buddhists' sacred books in an unknown tongue, 
and this is only a part they objected to. 

So we are not the only protestants in the world for these 
heathens see the wrong, and their protest is against that which is 
essentially" popish. 

When a church begins to introduce ritualism, which is of itself a 
form of idolatry, it is apt to lose the worship of the heart towards 
God ; a coldness takes place ; they lose their first love. 

So It was with the primative church in the day of Constantine ; 
we find the ministers at the council of Nice, showing the fruits of 
their loss of love in their unseemly conduct. 

We do not say a church or an individual could not be a devout 
christian, and still follow these forms, he may be so accustomed to 
them, as not to notice or be affected by them. Still there is a great 
danger in their use. 

A christian might be called into a saloon or worse place, on busi- 
ness or for his church, and yet not be contaminated. Another 
might go of less guarded habits and fall into its evil embrace. 

The Jews had fallen into great errors, but Christ came to sweep 
awa}' all the evils of existing things, and to introduce something 
better. The Jewish religion as given by Moses, and from the 
mouth of God, was a type of the beautiful spiritual religion that 
Jesus was now about to introduce to the world ; had the Jews 
followed it as laid down by Moses, there would not have been the 
confusion existing that Jesus found when he came. The thousands 
upon tens of thousands of sacrifices that had been offered, only 
pointed to the one great and final sacrifice he was now about to 
offer in the person of himself. 



CONSTANTINK. . 57 

The Jews had become, pharisaical, ritual or outward, and Jesus 
tells them these things are not acceptable to God, unless the heart is 
with it. So he calls them hypocrites, painted sepulchres, and listens 
only to the worship of the heart. 

The Jews had buried the original law under the forms of their 
tradition, still with all this, they were not so corrupt as the gentiles, 
who were strictly idol worshippers. 

The Roman Catholics have hidden every vestige of Christianity 
under the traditions of their church, and if the Pharisees were not 
acceptable, how much less a chance have they. 

At the time of Constantine, Christianity had made great progress, 
and a great dispute arose at Alexandria. 

Arius, a presbyter of the Alexandrian church, taught that the 
Father and Son were not one, but that the Son was a seperate being 
from, and inferior to the Father; and that the Holy Spirit was 
created by the Son. Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, 
•denounced this doctrine, and maintained the doctrine of Holy 
Trinity. 

A quarrel ensued between the two which became so bitter and so 
generally divided the people of Alexandria that Constantine felt 
bound to notice it. 

So at the council of Nice in Bithyma, A. D. 325, this doctrine of 
Arius was brought before them and condemned, and the doctrine of 
the Trinity established. 

Paganism was reviving in Egypi under the short reign of Julian 
the Apostate, (the same as it has revived since under the name of 
popery) but in 379 the emperor Theodosius I. made an effort to root 
it out. 

He issued a decree that his subjects should adopt the christian 
faith, as settled by the Nicaean Creed, and ordered that the pagan 
temples should be closed. Alexandria at this time contained a 



58 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

large pagan population learned and cifltivated studends in the 
schools of phliosophy. 

These bitterly resented the emperor's order. 

Theodosius gave further orders to destroy the idols in the pagan 
temples. 

The christians, aided by the imperial troops, broke into the 
heathen sanctuaries and destroyed the idols and the buildings. 

The great temple of Serapis, which for ages has been the shrine 
of paganism, and desecrated and plundered, and its invaluable 
library of 700,000 volums destroyed. 

The pagans flew to arms, and several battles were fought in the 
streets of Alexandria. 

The imperial troops were successful and the pagans were driven 
from the city, and Christianity was supreme in Egypt. 

The emperor Theodosius, was a Trinitarian and once reversed 
the policy of his predecessor and displaced all the Arian clergy, and 
appointed Trinitarians in their place. 

The Arians were persecuted and this was acceptable to the 
christians of Egypt, a large part of which were Trinitarians. 

They gave the emperor a loyal support, and during this reign 
Egypt was one of the safest and most devoted of his provinces. 

It will be interesting here to notice how much Christianity, though 
triumphant over paganism was effected by it. 

It would be unreasonable, says Sharpe, to suppose that the Egyp- 
tians, on embracing Christianity, at once throw oft' the whole of their 
pagan cities. They continued to make mumies of the dead bodies. 

Among other things, they had figures of the Virgin Mar}' standing 
on the new moon as she ascends up to the heaven. 

This seems to be borrowed from the goddess Isis, who in her char- 
acter of the dog star rises heliacally in the same manner. 

The tapers even now burnt before the Roman Catholics' alters 
had also from the earliest times been to light up the splendors ot the 



CONSTANTINE. 59 

Egyptian alters in the diirkness of tlieir temples, and had been burnt 
in still greater numbers, in the 5-early festival of the candles. The 
playful custom of giving away sugared cakes and sweetmeats on the 
25th day of Tybi, our 20th of January, was then changed to be kept 
fourteen days earlier, and still marks with us the feast of Epiphany 
or Twelfth night. 

The division of the people into Clergy and Laity, which was 
unknown to Greeks and Romans, was introduced to Christianity in 
the fourth century, by the Egyptians, while the rest of Christendom 
were clothed in wollen. Linen, the common dress of the Egyptians, 
was universally adopted by the clergy as more becoming to the 
purity of their manners. Linen, says the Book of Revelations, is 
appointed for the saints. 

The Egyptian priests, shaved the crown of the head bald; (His- 
tory of the world, by James & McCabe, page 134-137.) 

It is evident from these things, Roman Catholocism, did not exist 
as an organized body at this time, although the paganism from 
which it sprang, was mixing itself up with Christianity and corrupt- 
ing it, and in due course of time, the people in large numbers 
returned to the old bondage. 

So that when this power (popery) came up from the bottomless 
pit, in full force, in the seventh century, it had less opposition to face 
and less martyrs to make than it would have had in any of the 
previous centuries. 

It might be asked here, how did popery establish itself? We 
have explained it in another chapter, but we will sa}' that poperj^ 
and that great apostacy Mohammedanism, came in about the same 
time. Mohammed, tried to win the world by proselyting, and 
gained scarcely a dozen people in as man\- years. He then 
equipped an army of men and horses and began to force the world 
to his religion by the use of the bayonet, and so brought the 
people to accept his creed, and as he became more powerful, he 



^O WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

overcame Arabia, Egypt and other places, and at one time threat- 
ened the whole of Europe. They devastated the countries they 
•conquered by fire and sword, and this was the means he used to 
show people he was a prophet sent by God. 

Popery began by creeping into the ckurches as christians, and 
then corrupting everything and everybody as fast as they could. 
Their greatest strength lay in politics, filling up every office with 
their tools, getting all the power by bribery, and every specie of 
•cunning, and underhanded work. 

Money was their god, and they bought over at first all they could, 
to their waj' of thinking, but afterwards they found the stake and 
the rack an easier method. 

Contrast God's plan of winning over the world by the Gospe^ 
instead of fear, ten-or hatred, and all the arguments of Satan. He 
-offers love, and gets possession of men's hearts and firmly holds 
them forever. 

We have stated that Paul speaks of apostacy ; it began in his time 
and continued later on as the church had rest. 

We have also stated that the clergy and bishops began to have 
large salarys, and that corruption began to creep in — perhaps to 
mention one case will be sufficient. 

About the year 250 to 260, we find one, Paul of Samosata, living 
in splendor (Bishop of Antioch), and by his pride and luxury, 
making the christian religion odious in the eyes of the Gentiles, 
■corrupting the clergy under him and introducing 3''0ung and 
beautiful women as his constant companions at his leisure moments, 
and departing from the orthodox faith, bringing into the church 
those things that are now called Catholic. So this man was not 
shielded behind monastic walls, but was degraded from his living, 
and another bishop appointed in his place. 

This is a sample of how the church became impure, and after 
the fourth century such things were done and introduced that quite 



CONSTANTINE. 61- 

changed the face of the primitive church, and opened the way for 
Poperv — not all at once, but by degrees and at long intervals. 

On the other hand we have had before Constantine's time, such 
good bishops as the really pious Origen of Antioch, who believed in 
the Gospel and who preached it to his people, as well as to Kings, 
and Emporers. 

Gibbons says: " Faithful to the doctrines of the Apostle, who in 
the reign of Nero had preached the duty of unconditional sub- 
mission ; the christians of the three first centuries preserved their 
conscience pure and innocent of secret conspiracy or open rebellion. 

While they experienced the vigor of persecution, they were never 
provoked, either to meet their tyrants in the field, or indignantly to 
withdraw themselves into some remote and sequestered corner of the 
globe. The Protestants of France, of Germany and of Britain, who 
asserted with such intrepid courage, their civil and religious free- 
dom, liave been insulted by the invidious comparisons between the 
conduct of the primitive and the reformed christians. 

Perhaps instead of censure, some applause may be due to the 
superior sense and spirit of our ancestors, who had convinced them- 
selves that religion cannot abolish the unalienable rights of nature. 

Perhaps the patience of the primitive church may be described to 
its weakness, as well as to its virtues. 

A sect of unwarlike plebians, without leaders, without arms, with- 
out fortifications must have encountered inevitable destruction in a 
rash and fruitless resistance to the master of the Roman legions. 

But the christians when they depreciated the wrath of Diocletian. 
or solicited the favor of Constantine, could allege with truth and con- 
fidence that the}' held the principle of passive obedience, and that in 
the space of three centuries their conduct had always been conform- 
able to their principles. 

They might add that the throne of the emperors would be es- 
tablished on a fixed and permanent basis, if all their subjects 



62 WHY HAVE PKIESTS AT ALL? 

embracing the christian doctrine should learn to suffer and obey- 
The state of the early christian were a wonder to many ot the 
pagans ; some admired their patience, and their courage under 
great trials. Others enraged at their presumption to break in upon 
their national worship which they had enjoyed for many centuries. 
They seemed just as astonished as man}' papists do to-day when 
you offer them the Bible. 

Secular history gives many details of christian persecution at the 
commencement but the Bible gives us the most wonderful in sight. 
(See Hebrews 11,33.) It speaks of those who through faith, sub- 
dued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped 
the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge 
of the sword. Find the rest in the above chapter, and see if this 
class of people correspond with most of the so-called christians man- 
ufactured by popes, priests, and so on. It cost something to be a 
christian in those days. Men and women were liable to be taken 
without warning at the public festivals and thrown to the wild 
beasts. 

Gibbons says, " On these occasions the inhabitants of the great 
cities of the empire were collected in the circus, or the theatre, 
where every circumstance of the place, as well as the ceremony, 
contributed to kindle their devotion, and to distinguish their 
humanity. 

Whilst the numerous spectators, crowned with garlands, perfumed . 
with incense, purified with the blood of victims, and surrounded 
with the alters and statues of their tutelar deities, resigned them- 
selves to the enjoyment of pleasure, which they considered as an 
essential part of their religious worship. They recollected that the 
christians alone abhorred the gods of mankind, and by their 
absence and melancholy on these solemn festivals, seemed to insult 
or to lament the public felicit3^ 



CONSTANTINE. 63 

If the empire had been afflicted by any recent cahimit}^ b^^ a 
plague, a famine, or an unsuccessful war; if the Tyber had, or if the 
Nile had not risen beyond its banks ; if the earth had shaken, or if 
the temperate order of the seasons had been interrupted, the super- 
stitious pagans were convinced that the crimes and the impiet3^ of 
the christians, who are spared by the excessive lenity of the govern- 
ment, had at length provoked the divine justice. 

It was not among a licentious and exasperated populace that the 
forms of legal proceedings could be observed, it was not in an 
amphi-theatre, stained with th» blood of wild beasts and gladiators, 
that the voice of compassion could be heard. The impatient 
clamors of the multitude denounced the christians as the enemies of 
gods and men, doomed them to the severest tortures, and venturing 
to accuse by name some of the most distinguished of the new 
sectaries, required with irresistable vehemence that they should be 
instantly apprehended, and cast to the lions. 

The provincial governors and magistrates who presided in the 
public spectacles, were usually inclined to gratify the inclinations 
and to appease the rage of the people by the sacrifice of a few 
obnoxious victims. 

This being the state of things, what deep conviction of the truth of 
the Gospel, and what great grace it required for the christians to live 
such an isolated life. 

They could not join in the courts or pleasures of the da}-, for these 
were repugnant to the new born light they had received, and which 
their conscience could not but condemn. They had learned to 
commune with the living God, and to worship idols they saw was 
not only wicked, but useless ; it filled their hearts with pity and love 
for their persecutors, and they would gladly have led them all to the 
foot of the cross, as the christians of to-day would welcome their 
descendants, when their bigotry and superstition does not prevent ; 
however a great many were drawn out of darkness into light, tlien, 
as now — But one more proof. 



64 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

In the time of Diocletian A. D. 303, a general edict of persecution 
was published against the christians, and all their churches in all 
provinces were to be demolished, and under the fury of Galernis, 
generals, tribunes, officers, &c., repaired to the principal churches of 
Niconiedia, and open, they rushed into the sanctuary and searched in 
vain for some visible object of worship, but they found no images of 
any kind, (no Virgin Mary) and they were obliged to content them- 
selves with burning the volumes of the Holy Scriptures. 

Had this been a Roman Catholic church it would have been filled 
with images, instead of God's holy word, but in man}' places cor- 
ruption was creeping in and the Christian church, was permitting 
herself to be overtaken by the spirit of tha ages that lay behind her. 

There came an aftergrowth of Jewish ritualism, of Greek philos- 
ophy, and of pagan cermonialism and idolatry, and as the conse- 
quence of this three-fold action the clergy began to be gradually 
changed from a teaching ministry to a sacrificing priesthood ; 
this made them no longer ministers or servants of fellow christians ; 
they took the position of a caste claiming to be superior to the 
laity, invested with mysterious powers. Thus there arose an heir- 
archy assuming to mediate between God and man. 

And while this corruption was creeping in through the pride of a 
few of the clergy, the christian laymen were true to the teachings of 
the Gospel, and as we can read their character and their piet}- by 
the above incidents, can we not see a distinction between them and 
those we call Roman Catholics? 

The writer has read many works on this subject, and the}-' all de- 
nounce it ; some think it began with the apostles. Very few 
realize popery to be what it is ; one author, on the popes, in his in- 
troduction confesses he cannot find anx^thing to connect it with the 
primitive church. So he says it will be safer for him to adopt 
the line of succession as given by the traditions of the church, and 
publish their statements, commencing with Peter, until he can get 



CONSTANTINE. 65 

something from history to begin with, and this is how a great many 
historians do, and under that impression confound Christianity with 
Romanism, and thus helps to keep up the farce. 

Nearly all critics in denouncing the errors of the dark ages, call it 
"the church, the christian church," and by these means, their 
wicked actions and heresies are laid to the real christians, not stop- 
ping to analyze the two systems, and satisfy themselves whether 
their actions agree with the teachings of the founder, Jesus Christ. 

And here is a great error. They content themselves by relying 
wholly on worldly wisdom and secular history, leaving out the 
greatest of all helps, Bible prophesy and its fulfillment. Spiritual 
things must be spiritually discerned. 

The history of this so-called church is made so plain to the 
spiritual Bible student that he sees the beginning and then marks 
the developement, and looks with great faith for the last act, which 
is to crown its earthly career, and I admit without this faith I should 
feel staggered at its audacity and pretentions ; should feel from the 
great effort they are now making to corrupt most countries and also 
the boasts they are making publicly, that it is only a question of 
time that a second edition of the dark ages is in store for the 
world. But he who said to the great sea, "so far shalt thou go, and 
no farther," has said in his prophecy to this worse than apostacy, 
"Thy day is limited. , I will bring thee to account. My glory, (not 
thine) shall cover the earth as the waters cover the ocean. Thy 
glory shall wane, as the sun of righteousness rises, with healing in its 
wings. I will take this glory as my own, and not receive it as thou 
art doing, from the enemy of mankind, from whom I once refused 
it. 

My holy book, my legacy to my children, shall be honored, and 
be the friend of every family that loves me. While thv wicked tra- 
ditions that you have forced on my people with cnielty, bloodshed 
and deception, and by such means have dishonored me shall be 



66 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

scorned, destroyed and finally blotted out, and you shall be punished 
as promised in the XX. Revelation, lo. 

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and 
brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tor- 
mented day and night for ever and ever." 

It ma}' be said in answer, why take so much notice, and wh}' sound 
such an alarm, if God is going to blot out this evil? The answer is, 
God works through his people, and is willing and waiting for us to 
do our part. If we allow this growing hierarchy to gather great 
headway it ma}' take years of bloody internal revolution to root it 
out. 

And if we, through indifference, carelessness, apathy, or b}' not 
posting oiu'selves as to the facts, let it get beyond our strength, 
then the Lord ma}' allow a war such as was necessary to blot out the 
evil of slavery, or he may bring some pestilence, or something that 
may shake us from the ver}' center. 

Be warned in time. 



CHAPTER IV. 
LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 

"The beast that thou sawest, was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the 
bottomless pit, and go into perdition, and they that dwell on the earth, 
shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the 
foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is 
not, and yet is." See Revelation XVII, 8. 

' I 'HE above verse, with the context, seems strange, and contains 
-*- language unintelligible, until we have mastered the situation. 

It was a marvel to John the Revelator, until the angel in the 
seventh verse, explained it to him. He has been speaking by sym- 
bols of a great power, as 3'et to come. 

And this power is represented as a woman arrayed in purple and 
scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones, and pearls. 
And in her hand a cup full of abominations and filthiness of her for- 
nications. 

It was also written (see fifth verse) upon her forehead. Mystery, 
Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlots, and the abominations of 
earth. 

John saw (in the sixth verse) this woman, in the far distant future, 
when she was ripe. Drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs 
of Jesus, and he wondered with great wonder. 

67 



68 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

This woman (eighteenth verse) is that great city, Rome, which 
reigneth over the kings of the earth. Some commentators think the 
words "Great City" mean the whole of the countries over which this 
woman reigneth or did reign ; be that as it may, it includes Rome. 
Catholics tell their people this means the first Babylon, but that 
could not be, for at the time of this vision, about 75 to 80 A. D. the 
old Babylon's power was not yet gone ; she was on the wane : the 
fiat of her destruction had gone forth, but Papal Rome had not as 
3'et earned the title, "Babylon the Great;" all her wickedness was 
in the future — she had 3-et to come. This power, or church, styled 
beast, had not as yet entered on her stage, therefore it must mean 
Rome, and there has been no power since that time to answer the 
description but Rome, and she has filled the prophesy to the letter. 

Now this power, or beast, was to be so terrible, it was to make 
war with the saints of God and prevail for a time, and it was, and is 
not, and 3-et is, we can explain that only by calling it a resurrection 
or revival of something that had had an existence before, had been 
suspended, and was now in force again. 

John's vision was in chronological order as to time, so when this 
power came up out of the bottomless pit, it began to exist again, but 
under a new name, which was that of christian, but before suspen- 
sion it was the old paganism. 

It now took the sign of a lamb, but it was the same old dragon. 
The characteristics the same, nothing changed but the name, 
excepting it was now full of rage, and was bent on dreadful 
slaughter. 

It was the oldest idolatry in the world, it had li\ed all through 
the ages, was in existence when Jesus came, and was only removed 
in Constantine's time, when the religion of Rome became real 
christian, joining church and state, suspended it, and so for a time it 
was not, but in the year 606, as seen by John, as well as proved by 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 69 

history, it began a new and dreadful existence, and soon after, 
making war on the followers of the Lamb exterminating them as 
heretics. 

Or, as we might term it, getting in the real church, robbing them 
of their name, which is christian, murdering them in their own, 
which is the real heretic, and setting up in their old business, 
paganism. But under the name of chri:?tian, and this is the only 
relation I can find this Roman Catholic church ever had to the real 
church, that of a Usuper, robber and murderer. 

Now let us remember this beast or great power was to ascend out 
of the bottoinless pit. What can this mean ? 

It must be something dreadful to let loose a great power on earth 
from such a place, and in what form will it come? 

Will it be a regiment of satanic fiends so frightful that every one 
will flee for safet}-? Oh, no ! ! 

It will be an awful thing, robbing men and women of bod}' and 
soul, life and pi-opert}-, but it will come in disguise. 

It will come in the form of a church, its object being to destro}' 
the real church that Christ has bviilt. 

One would hardly think it would dare to come, but it will, for John 
saw it in the tuture. 

Daniel also saw it centuries before. (See Daniel VII, 7.) "After 
this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and 
terrible, and strong exceedingl}^, and it had great iron teeth ; it de- 
voured and broke in pieces, and it was diverse from all the beasts that 
were before it, and it had ten horns." 

This is the same beast that John saw and another prophecy of the 
coming power, to be known as Babylon the great, they both agree 
as to its destiiictive power and also that it is to make war against the 
Lamb, and against his saints. 

And in order to deceive and gain power, it disguises itself as men- 
tioned above in the tbrm of a Christian church. 



70 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

"And I beheld another beast coming out of the earth, and he had 
two horns, like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerci- 
seth all the power of the hrst beast before him, and causeth the earth 
and them which dwell therein, to worship the first beast, whose 
deadly wound was healed." (See Revelations XIII., 11-12.) Here 
are two powers, both coming from the same place ; the one a political, 
that did the stamping, tearing and devouring for the other, which is 
the spiritual, but both exerciseth the power of the first beast. The first 
beast made war against the lamb's saints, in the first to third centu- 
ries, under such men as Nero and others ; this new power now com- 
ing up, simply takes their place ; they had been suspended from Con- 
stantine's time and the one coming out of the earth is the Latin 
church. 

So while it pretends to be a christian church, it is in reality the 
power of darkness let loose, in order to pull down what Jesus and the 
apostles had begun. 

Mr. Benson remarks on this subject : "He was, and is not, and vet 
or according to other copies, and shall come, and shall ascend out of 
the bottomless pit. A beast in the prophetic style is a tyrannical, idola- 
trous empire, and the Roman empii^e was idolatrous under the hea- 
then emperors, and then ceased to be so for some time under the 
Christian emperors, and then became idolatrous again under the 
Roman pontiffs, and so has continued ever since. 

It is the same idolatrous power revived again, but in another form, 
and all the corrupt part of mankind, whose names were* not enrolled 
as good citizens in the registers of heaven, are pleased at the revival 
of it, but in this last form shall go into perdition or destniction ; it shall 
not, as it did before, cease for a time and revive again, but shall be 
destroyed forever." (Rev. A. Bnmson, key to the apocalypse, page 
128.) 

As this power is from Satan, he will crush an^-thing and everything 
that comes in his way, but he will use deceipt, where it will cany out 
his pvirpose in the same manner he did at the beginning. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 7 1 

God said to the pair in the garden, "Thou shalt surely die."' 
Satan says, you shall not surely die ; he sets up an opposition ; does 
not come in his own character, but comes in disguise, opposing God. 

Fights him with counterfeit weapons ; he has done so all through 
the ages. 

God made man to worship him ; Satan persuades him to worship 
anj^thing and everything, so long as he can draw their hearts from 
God. Up to this time the}- have made gods of fish, flesh, fowl, 
insects, reptiles, men, women, sun, moon, stars and everthing their 
master has suggested, but now in this revival, he is going to surpass 
the past, he is going to add a new god, of flour and water, in the 
shape of a wafer, and call it the host, and have it carried around in 
long processions, and a certain class of men and women bowing to 
it. 

In the fullness of time, God sets up a church on earth at the expense 
of his son's life, also his followers, and thousands are convened and 
Bible salvation is preached, and in the fourth centiu-v it becomes the 
religion of the greatest empire in the world of that da}-, and draws 
men awa}- from these gods the enemy has set up. 

He has opposed it from the beginning with the greatest cmeltv, but 
it gains ground, and he now so cornipts it that in the seventh centurv 
it is ripe for his purpose, when lo I ! a church springs up from the 
bottomless pit ; a church to fight a church, and then the war begins all 
over again, and the followers of the lamb are again called heretics, 
again hunted to death by this resurrected power, and this time he is 
determined to kill it, only the gates of hell are not to prevail. 

God gave us a Bible, and it came periodicallv. The first five 
books by Moses called the pentateuch are observed for a time bv 
most of his people, and alwa3's by a few, but the devil is making war 
on it, and as it increases in volume, so does he find a way to neutral- 
ize it, and at last when it becomes a full volume, old and new testa- 



72 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

ment, then he gets this church of his to denounce it, and forbid its" 
reading, and so destroy its use. 

It is almost lost, some manuscript here and there chained to some 
altar and printed in latin, that the people do not understand, or 
many of the priests, a few refer to it for state purposes, and that is all 
the good the word of God is doing at that time, within the circle of 
this church. 

At last, when this scarlet woman is drunk with the blood of the 
saints, then God sends a fresh supply, in Luther's time, and they are 
sewn broadcast, to the people, and open their eyes. Then Satan, he 
gets up his friends to make war on it again, and burns ever\- copv 
the}' can la}- their hands on, but the printing press God has sent now, 
and thev are made faster than they can burn them. Well what 
next? 

He sets to work, and prints one for himself with changes in it that 
suit his purpose, but still it is a Bible ; and he keeps man\' of his 
people too poor to buy one, and too ignorant to read it, but this does 
not wholly suit his purpose, so he makes his church preach against 
it, and forbid its reading, under high sounding penalties that the}' 
ha\'e no power to enforce ; but the people haye been kept so ignorant 
that the\' do not know it. 

But somehow Satan is loosing his grip and many will read it, so 
when they cannot help it, they allow an edition of their own, changed 
of course, and call it the Catholic Bible, and then they must not think 
■ for themselyes, but come and we will explain it to you — and a pretty 
explanation they giye — and so the deyil fights the Bible with a Bible, 
and the poor dear souls are so full of superstition, they belieye what is 
told them, and some Catholics will hardly have it in their house, 
because they are told it is a Protestant version, and therefore must be 
wrong ; this is one of the weapons of this terrible beast. 

One case is known of a member of a Catholic famih' becoming a 
Protestant, and a nicel}' bound Bible was given. After great perse- 
cution this member went back to live again with the family, and took 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 73 

home the Bible. On the party giving it, making a pastoral call, the 
Bible was on the floor ; it looked as if it had been made a footstool 
of by some member of the famil}- ; this is how this so-called church 
treats and causes to be treated the word God has sent to guide us to 
heaven. Surely those words in Revelation XXII. 18-19, "^^'^^^ ^PP-^}' 
to this so-called church that imposes such dreadful work on its 
members. 

"For I testif}^ unto ever}^ man that heareth the words of the pro- 
phecy of this book. 

If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the 
plagues that are written in this book, and if any man shall take away 
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take awa}' his 
part out of the book of life, and out of the holy cit}', and from the 
things which are written in this book." 

And so the centuries travel on and the people are groaning under 
this great incubas and looking for a deliverer ; and thousands wonder 
what such a church is for, except to swallow their money. 

Others through the dark ages have investigated the subject, and 
have satisfied themselves as to its real character, but they are kept 
quiet for fear of this terrible beast ; he has got it all in his own hands 
now and he stamps out any and all that oppose him, friends and foes, all 
the same ; he respects nothing but money and its worth. Kings and 
emperors, and all in authority fear him, few love him, and the mul- 
titude are so ignorant and are kept from thinking by fast days, feast 
da3's, saints' days and carnivals. Saints' days have become so num- 
erous that at last they have to form a junction, lump them together 
and call them all saints' days, and the dai^kness is as black as night ; 
poverty and wretchedness the iiile, wealth and happiness the excep- 
tion, and the religion of Jesus Christ and the apostles, where is it? 
Ah !! where is it all gone? Nothing left, torn down; and in its 
place, mountebank tricks in the shape of mass and confession, and a 
host of things to steal the head, but nothing to comfort the heart. 



74 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

So at last a light begins to appear in the sixteenth centuiy, at the 
Schloss Kirk in Wittemberg. Something is nailed to the church door, 
merely a piece of paper. Ah! exclaims the Pope, what is it? "Who 
dares to nail anything without my sanction? Who is it? Luther, 
you say his name is, and what did he nail? A Thesis I against me 
and my mle ! ! A pi-otest against the vicegerent of Christ. I will 
show him what it is to dare to fight against me. 

And now the beast shows his terrible teeth, and brings out Ana- 
themas and excommunications. Bulls are sent with leaden stamps 
enough to scare the armies of Europe with all the kings at its head, 
but somehow, it for the first time does not scare worth a cent. 
Luther hears an inner voice that says, "fear not, I am with you, be 
not afraid, I am your God" — and he is used to this voice ; he knows 
it is his heavenly Father speaking to him, and he trusts it, and that 
being the case, he becomes invulnerable, and so the pope's bulls 
miss fire, and the w^orld gains courage, when Luther appoints a 
public meeting, and for the first time in the history- of popery, as far 
as the writer knows, burns the pope's bull openly. 

This daring act draws some of this terrible beast's teeth, and puts 
him in such a rage that he foams at the mouth, but is perfectly im- 
potent as far as Luther is concerned, but he has many teeth left, and 
his day for mischief is not yet over. 

But who is this Luther who can put such a holy man as the pope 
is, or ought to be, in such a terrible rage? Is he some great poten- 
tate, king, emperor, Caesar, Pharaoh, with fleets and armies to back 
him? 

Without this he of course would not dare to enter the lists against 
such a terrible foe — a man accustomed to having all the powers of 
earth kneel at his feet, whose very nod was law, and who has 
thousands of messengers of death at his disposal. Who has — or at 
least says he has the keys of heaven and earth entrusted to him ; 
who has had delegated to himself more power than God th^ creator. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 75 

if we can only think so — then this Luther must b^ a power greater 
than Alexander, or any of the conquerors of the earth. 

And yet, after examining the whole of his forces, we find him 
simply, what? One man — alone! The son of an honest man, a 
miner, and at one time to poor to buy the books his son, Martin 
L-uther, oughr to have ; but his father was a man who loved and 
feared God, and this is perhaps the reason God honored him by 
giving him such a son. Surely the words of this hated Bible are here 
brought into effect which say, "He causeth the weak things of this 
earth to confound the mighty." 

And so this one man nailed his Thesis at a door belonging to 
Holy Mother Church socalled, containing ninety-five propositions 
on the doctrine of indulgences. Why did Luther choose this partic- 
ular time to do this? Those who have read his history, know he 
was from his youth one who, like his father, loved and feared God ; 
therefore why not do this before. 

It is said "the last straw breaks the camel's back," and this last 
straw had just been laid on him — his patience was now put to the 
straining point in the person of a man named Tetzel, who had been 
appointed by the Archbishop, to go about the country selling at 
tfeuction, indulgences, to raise as much money as he could squeeze 
out of the people. 

"So he carried me away in the wilderness and I saw a woman sit 
upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy." (Revela- 
tion XVH, part of 2.) Was not this Telzel, in doing his master's 
work, and also a work congenial to his own heart, blaspheming the 
God of Heaven? Who was John Tetzel? He was a man with a 
stentorian voice ; he was a Friar ; he came to sell indulgences, and 
when he and his company entered a city beating drums, waving 
flags, bells ringing, tapers blazing, his custom was to go straight to 
the cathedral, having a great flaunting red cross, which he sat up in 
the front of the alter ; he also had a strong iron box to receive money 



76 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

for pardons granted ; he had in his pocket permission from the pope, 
so all churches were open to him, and it was easy for Mr. John 
Tetzel to set up in business in every town, without any cost, and all 
the money he received was profit, for he gave nothing in return 
but promises ; this is about all the Roman Church ever gave, 
promises, made to be broken. 

Let us now take a peep at Mr. John Tetzel, as he opens the 
auction sale for the salvation of souls. 

He begun like our modern auctioneers, to speak on the wondertu 
advantages of this particular sale. The churches were generally 
crowded, brought by the drums, bells, etc. 

He said in effect that never in the history of the church had such a 
grand offer been made, and if you live till you are all gra^'^ headed, 
you will never have such a chance again ; the gates of Paradise are 
now fully open ; if I only close this sale the gates will be shut, and 
you will regret it as long as you live. 

I offer you to day God's most precious gift, indulgences ; not only 
for sins committed, but sins you intend to commit ; these indulgences 
are all properly sealed, so you have only to put money in the box, 
and become the holder ot one or more of them, and then you are 
settled t'or life. 

And then pointing to the great red cross, he assures his hearers 
that it is as potent for pardon, as the cross the Saviour died on. And 
now m}^ friends, you fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands, 
wives, I do not sell only indulgences for you, but tor those that are 
dead ; for those dear friends of yours that are now in purgatprv ; all 
you have to do is to drop in your money and as soon as it chinks 
against the side of the iron box, out pops their souls from purgatory 
and their misery is at an end for ever. 

And we must remember purgatory was believed in by nearly all in 
those days, and was to them a dreadful reality. Even Luther had 
not yet had his eyes opened to this horrible cheat. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 77 

And SO this paid montebank of the pope went on extoling his use- 
less wares, and quoting scripture in a sickening manner. One 
quotation will be enough for us. 

"Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see, for I tell 
you that many prophets have desired to see those things that ye see, 
and have not seen them, and to hear those things that ye hear and 
have not heard them." It makes one shudder when we read such 
wickedness. 

But the pope and arch-bishop knew their man ; he had been once 
sentenced to be put in a sack and drowned for a wicked crime, but 
was pardoned, perhaps for the purpose of doing this horrid work. 
He had once held the office of inquisitor, therefore how much blood 
must there have been on his hands. 

But this wretch left nothing undone to till his box : in each place 
he appealed to God, to the pope, to the sufferings of purgatory, to 
the blessings of heaven ; he would for sometime continue to talk in 
this strain, when he would suddenly run down from his pulpit, and 
throw a coin in the box, and that would be followed b)' a perfect 
shower of money. 

All this will be denied by the priests, but it is a matter of common 
history, and a great deal more ; this is on!}' a tithe of the facts, and 
there were three keys to this box, Tetzel kept one, the cashier of 
a tirm in Ausburg another ; this last firm was the agent of 
the elector, and arch-bishop of IManiz, who formed the indulgences. 
The third was in the hands of the civil authority. From time to 
time the box was opened in presence of a notary public and its con- 
tents counted and registered. 

So this wicked blasphemy was known and allowed by all the 
powers, from the pope downward, and would it not be well to copy 
here one of these letters from History of Protestantism by Rev. J.. 
A. Wylie, Vol. I. page 258. 



78 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

"The form in which the pardon was given was that of a letter of 
absolution. These letters ran in the following terms : May the 
Lord Jesus Christ have pity on the N. N. and absolve thee by the 
merits of his most holy passion. And, I, by virtue of the apostolic 
power which has been confided to me, do absolve thee from all 
ecclesiastical censures, judgments and penalties which thou mayest 
have merited, and from all the excesses, sins and crimes which thou 
mayest have committed, however great or enormous they may be, 
and for whatsoever cause, even though they had been reserved to 
our most holv father the pope, and the apostolic see. I efface all 
attainders of unfitness, and all marks of infam}' thou mayest have 
drawn on thee on this occasion. I remit the punishment thou 
shouldest have had to endure in purgatory, I make thee anew, a 
participator in the sacraments of the church, I incorporate thee 
afresh in the communion of saints and I reinstate thee in the inno- 
cence and purity in which thou wast at the hour of baptism so that 
at the hour of death, the gate through which is the entrance to the 
place of torments and punishments shall be closed against thee, and 
that which leads to the paradise of joy shall be open. And should- 
est thou be spared long, this grace shall remain immutable to the 
time of thy last end. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 

Brother John Tetzel, commissioner, has signed it with his own 
hand. 

For what purpose was this sacrilige allowed and invented by pope 
LeoX.? 

He cared nothing for churches or christianit}' ; the life and death 
of Christ was to him nothing but a fable ; still he was fond of appear- 
ances, and as the church of Rome had been permitted to become a 
ruinous pile, greatly out of repair, the project came into his mind to 
pull it down and replace it with one that would excel anything in the 
world. It would cost millions to do it, but what of that? The 
church of Rome never had any scruples, their motto being, "the end 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 79 

justifies the means," so he got up the plan of selling indulgences by 
wholesale, to find the money, and sold licences to all countries in 
Europe, and formed them out of different parties. 

Germany was farmed out to Albert, arch-bishop of Mainz and 
Magdeburg, and the latter sent this man Tetzel through Germany, 
with his great red cross, carried by himself and on which was sus- 
pended the arms of the pope, in front of the procession ; on a velvet 
cushion was the pope's bull of grace, and behind were the mules 
laden with bales of pardons for those only who had money to pay. 

And by these means Leo went on building the church of Saint 
Peter. . • ' 

The people had been fleeced in so many ways, had always paid 
for indulgences, were used to paying for festivals and church fairs 
called Kirmiss, and so many other things, but this was too bold even 
for the sixteenth century, and although it brought in vast sums of 
money, it set the people thinking, and that is the last thing the 
Roman church wants to see ; they hate a thinking people. 

The character of Tetzel was known to the German people ; his 
narrow escape from being tied up in a sack and thrown into the 
river, and they thought it strange he being so guilty, should become 
a pardoner of sins. He was traveling from town to town, puttino- 
up at the best inns, living on the best, making men carry about his 
stock in trade, he paying them in letters of indulgence, and so he 
came within a few miles of the home of Luther; and when he heard 
of Tetzel and his acts he determined to oppose him. 

Luther, who had not yet left the church of Rome, still acted as a 
confessor, and on some folks confessing crimes to him, he told them 
they must abandon their sins, or he could not' absolve them, bat 
they had no thought of leaving off" sinning. Had they not Tet- 
zel's indulgence papers in their pockets to sin as long as they 
lived? They on finding the papers were useless and that God could 
only forgive them on their repenting ; so having paid their money 



^O WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

lor these papers, ihey went back to Tetzel, who flew into a rage, 
foaming at the mouth and built a fire in the market place and said 
the pope had given him power to burn all such heretics in the flames. 

And so Luther who was not yet fully aware of the wickedness of 
his church, and not knowing the pope had farmed these indulgences 
to the Prince Arch-bishop of Mainz, wrote to him, begging him to 
stop such proceedings that was a scandal to religion, and a snare 
to the souls of men. How this looks like walking into the lion's 
den. 

Still Tetzel went on for a time selling his indulgences, and Luther 
preached repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in 
these men the two religions met, the religion of man and the religion 
of God — or in other words, Christ's Church and the Church ot 
Rome. 

And again, is not this Tetzel a fair specimen of a man brought up 
in a school headed by a pope, who treated the sufferings of our Lord 
as a fable ; does he not partake of the character of the beast who 
was to come up from the bottomless pit, spoken of at the head of 
this chapter? 

And who according to Daniel was to stamp and destroy holy 
people? 

Does not his rage and passion and the fire he built show he would 
stamp and destroy, like his master, ever3'thing that opposed him in 
his evil ways, and had he not been so surrounded b}- the friends of 
Luther, and the latter being also under the protection of God, he 
would no doubt have carried his purposes into effect. We can 
scarcely realize what it was to live in those days. 

And does not Luther show the real christian spirit, a man like his 
master, made perfect by suffering? 

He is risking all, life included, not for his own gain, but tor the 
cause of christianit}'. Luther represents Christ's Church, Tetzel the 
church that came up Irom the bottomless pit. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. OX 

And this Tetzel was the straw before mentioned that determined 
Luther to fight against indulgences. And so he nailed his Thesis on 
the church door which was the actual beginning of the great Refor- 
mation in Germany and which has been the greatest blessing known 
to the whole earth since our Saviour left it. 

God who had raised Luther as a leader had so timed his coming 
when society was longing for a change, many were so tired of 
Poperv, with its useless and unprofitable ceremonies, that the post-* 
ing of Luther's Thesis to the church door, at Wittenburg, on the 
31st day of October at noon 1517, the day previous to All Saints' 
Day, caused a great sensation among the people. And which after- 
wards fired the whole of Continental Europe, and the letters of 
Luther and other reformers in the public prints opened the e\-es of 
the people. 

And when the Bible was given, they found in it the true religion, 
and from that time, popery, to large numbers, was a drug in the 
market, and Protestantism determined on, although as yet the 
great protest had not been delivered ; that was to come in the 
regular order of events. 

And here let us take a sketch of Luther from hi? birth. Martin 
Luther was born November 10, 1483, at Eisleben ; this being Saint 
Martin's eve he was named Martin. 

This was the most important birth since the one that happened 
in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, and he like 
his master, did not come in the line of kings, but was born of humble 
parents. His father had no estates or titles, but had to earn his 
bread by mining ; he had a mind searching after knowledge, but 
books were scarce in those days as well as, to him, inoney to buy ; 
his father and mother were religious, as far as the light was given 
them, and both praying people. 

Martin Luther, the greatest man of the time, had no celebration 
at his birth, he simply came into the world, in a poor cottage, and: 
outside of the few friends of the family, no one to notice the event.. 



82 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

And yet his life was worth more to the world than a host of em- 
perors, kings, popes, in fact he came to correct the abuses of these 
powerful ones. 

At the age of six months, his father removed to Mansfield, and 
his circumstances improving, he could now gratifj^ his taste for 
learning, as well as receive good society- at his table, and the con- 
versation there, formed on the bright mind of Martin, the foundation 
of his future life. 

And so Luther grew, loved by his parents as also by the children 
of Mansfeld, with whom he could be often seen playing on the 
banks of the Wipper. 

At the age of fourteen (1497) Martin was sent to the Franciscan 
school at Magdebvirg, and here his hardships were great ; his master 
often flogged him. 

And he had to do what was customary in those days, beg from 
door to door for his bread ; his education was free ; the boys went 
sometimes to beg together, and often received more refusals and 
insults than food. After a year he was sent to a school at Eise- 
nach, but here as before, he had to beg ; he was often very hungrv, 
and nowhere to go, and these hardships he could not endure much 
longer ; he must give up his studies, go home, and work in the 
mines. 

But there was an eye watching over him who would not allow 
him to sufter more than was good for his discipline. 

So one day while singing in the street providence opened the 
heart of a good soul in the person of Ursula, the wife of Conrad 
Cotta, a man of consideration. 

This lady had noticed the scholar before. She had heard him 
sing in the choir on Sunday, and was pleased with his sweet voice. 

So she called him in at the very moment he was about to sink, 
and invited him to her table ; both she and her husband were so 
taken with the sweet boy that they offered him their home to live in. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 83 

Martin had no longer to sing for food, but found second parents 
in this home, where he stayed about two years, and it was to him 
always a sure evidence that God helps in time of need. 

Luther in his after experience, had much opposition that we can- 
not speak of here. He tried to reform the vyorld, but found a great 
part of it careless, ignorant and indifferent and he, like all refor- 
mers, had often a mind to give it up ; but there was an inner force 
propelling him to his task, as well as fitting him for the mighty 
work before him. 

And now in 1501, at the age of eighteen years, we find Luther in 
the university ol Erfurt, where new studies engage his attention. 
Scholastic philosophy was the order of the day, Aristotle and other 
lights were in demand, and Luther excelled in all, in fact he became 
the great scholar of Erfurt. 

He was now 20 years of age, with a mind drinking in all the 
knowledge within his reach. 

But God had raised him for something better than this university- 
taught. 

He came on purpose to study another book, which he had not 
yet seen. 

It was a divine light, but had been cast aside for all this earthly- 
wisdom ; all this kind of instruction might do just to break the 
ground with, but the foundation must be ot better material to hold 
up such a building as God required. 

And so one day taking down from the shelves of the library of the 
university some books, he saw one that differed from the rest, and 
on opening it he found, well, what did he find? Some more philos- 
ophy? No! Some fresh poetical work? No! Then what is it.'* 
A humble book without any preface and simply opening the subject 
with the words : "In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth." Why ! this must be — surely it is ! The Bible, and so it was. 
It was the Vulgate or Latin translation by Jerome. Oh, what joy 



84 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

came into this hungry heart ; he had heard of it by parcels on 
Saints' da3's and Sundays and thought that was all there was ol it, 
but here was one great volume, containing many books on the sub- 
ject near and dear to his heart. 

He went day by day to the librar}- and studied in the old and new 
testament, and he looked on this book as a miser looks upon his 
gold. 

Some may say what a fuss to make about finding a Bible ; to some 
people this book is their daily companion ; they have it before them 
open in their closet pra^'ers, and God opens it to them as to no 
others. Some look upon it with indifference, some with an un- 
believing heart ; to them the pages are as lead. 

But to Luther whose soul was thirsting for the knowledge ot God, 
this was doubly welcome, besides this was the weapon w'ith which 
he would have to fight Kings, Emperors. Councils, Popes ; his very 
life was bound up in this book, although at present he did not 
know it. Still he had a natural instinct that drew him to it, and 
he found it contained true spiritual wisdom wliicli he was not vet 
luUy able to grasp. 

But the books he had to study tilled him with human wisdom, and 
rising in public estimation, became master of aits, or doctor of phil- 
osophy, was the first scholar at Erfurt University', gave lectures and 
was on the road to the highest honors of the stale, very much to the 
delight of his father, and who, to fit him for this position, persuaded 
him to study for the bar, which he did, and among all this worldly 
wisdom, the old Bible might be forgotten. How hard for a rich 
man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

But God visited him with terrors, in the midst of which he 
promised to serve him all the days of his life, and in that day, this 
meant nothing else than to enter a monastry, wear a monk's hood 
and to shut himself from the world. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 85 

So on the 17th day of August 1505, be became an inmate of the 
Augustinian Convent. 

Here was a blow to father and friends, as well as to himself, but 
he had promised God to serve him, and must keep his promise. 
And as he is groaning under sin, or as we say, under deep convic- 
tion, he must fly to the only place that is a refuge for sin. Ah, 
what a mistake to shut himself up from the world to find God; to 
go amongst men more ignorant of the way than himself; but he 
lived in an age when the light of the Gospel was hid by this so- 
called church. 

That part of the world was full of the idea that this was God's 
plan ol salvation, and like a drowning man he caught hold of the 
only rope offered him. 

This earth had become so dark the real church had gone into the 
wilderness. 

Luther felt sure the moment he crossed the door of the convent 
his peace would be made ; he had only to enter one of these holy 
cells to find a refuge from sin and uncleanness. Well, did he find 
it? Oh, no; the burden of his soul increased, Hs conscience 
knocked louder and louder, the burden was only shifted, not lost; 
he carried about him the load of unpardoned sin, he knew not where 
to go. What good to him were popes, priests, monks, confessors ; 
this was a case beyond their experience ; this was a real want, so 
their forms were only a mockery. 

They could deceive people that believed in their foolish dogmas, 
but when a soul was in real earnest, it must go away unsatisfied. 

His companions, the monks could not understand a case like this ; 
it looked to them like insanity. 

It was something new ; their farcical religion could not touch it, 
and as they were lazy and ignorant, and fond of good cheer, 
this did not quite suit them. So the best thing they knew of, was 
to bustle about, and go to work, and set Luther to do the drudgery', 



86 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

cleaning the cells, church, and other places, to go out begging in 
the town with a large bag, to feed the inmates of the monastry. 

This occupied his day, and the night he spent in his cell, studying 
works that pleased him ; he had on one occasion hardly closed his 
eyes for six or seven weeks, and that with his fasts, and the small 
amount of food he ate, he became like a corpse and sometimes fell 
on the floor of the cell from sheer weakness. 

One morning they burst open the door of the cell and foimd 
Martin on the floor, scarcely breathing, most dead. 

Had they known his future mission, it would be well for their 
system to let him die, for by his hand would these worse than use- 
less monastries be destro3^ed. 

But before he could help the world, he must break the prison 
door that confines his own soul, and loosen that load from his heart 
that was so pulling him down. 

How important for a man that has to do any work for the Lord, 
to go through the fire of affliction ; this was an important part of his 
education, and it is God's plan. "Humble thyself before the Lord 
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." Paul said "when 
I am weak, then I am strong," and this is the initial work, the 
night before the day, and as the day dawns, so does the uplift- 
ing commence, until God is able to prepare the heart for him to 
dwell there. 

So it was with Luther, in his after experience. At present he has 
not had the bandages taken off"; all the rubbish of the old system 
must be cleared away before he is able to rise in the glorious liberty 
of the sons of God. 

Luther took the name of Augustine when he entered the monastry^ 
and he found chained to the cl.apel, the Bible, which was very 
welcome ; he went day by day to read it. as he could not take it to 
his cell, but he had not yet learned the divine principle, "the just 
for the unjust," so he continued praying for the peace of his soul in 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 87 

the shape of penances, watchings, readings, and all the forms of 
Romanism, but it only increased his burdens as the day of deliver- 
ance came. 

It came in the person of Staupitz, Vicar general of the Augustines 
of Germany. 

He knew God's plan of salvation, by the study of the Bible. And 
as vsoon as he saw Luther, he thought he knew how he stood, and 
in the secret cell they conversed together. 

One would have supposed this man occupying such a position and 
having such opportunities of doing good, would speak aloud the 
praises of God, and not go into a cell for that purpose, but so it vvas ; 
the despotism of the age had shut men's mouths to the truth ; that 
was called heresy, but revived paganism was called the word of God. 

Luther had studied more the threatening parts of the Bible than 
the great promises of mercy ; this could not be wondered at, since 
his church ruled by fear, and not by love ; he, like numbers since, 
thought he could not come to Christ without some preparation, to 
make him better ; he could not see Christ had paid his debt, and he 
was welcome to come just as he was, in a repentant spirit ; he wa& 
tormenting himself by looking at his own heart instead of looking 
to Jesus, and when Staupitz told him to give up any further sacrifi- 
ces and take Christ by faith, the first glimmer of light entered his 
soul, and his burden began to grow lighter; still his faith was as yet 
very weak, but it was the seed sown, destined to grow to such pro- 
portions as would shake that monstrous despotism at Rome in such 
a manner she would never recover. 

Staupitz presented him with a bible before he leit, which was the 
most precious gift he could have oflTered, and in it he found God's 
plan, repentance and forgiveness of sins, by God alone, and by a 
personal application to him through Jesus, and not through anyone 
else, be it male or female, or by doing anything else, but prayer 
and supplication. 



88 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

And now Luther is a new man ; he, like Bunyan, has left his 
load at the foot of the cross and his soul flees from doubting castle 
into the joy and liberty of his new spiritual birth. And he begins to 
lose confidence in the church of Rome ; he had supposed it was of 
God's appointment, but begins to think it to be built up by Satan for 
the purpose of hindering men from getting into the kingdom, and so 
he turns from man's plan to God's, from popery to Christ and feels 
armed with the power of a newly made christian. 

And now the principle of Christianity ripens in his heart, sins are 
no longer to be paid for, either in fees or penances, self torture or 
any other act, but come to Jesus personally, and receive forgiveness 
of sins ; he no sooner understood this, than down, below freezing 
goes the church of Rome. Another tooth drawn from the beast's 
mouth, but he has to get below zero before he can entirely shake oft' 
the thought that Rome is not in some way connected with Christ's 
church. 

And so in 1507 he was ordained to the priesthood. 

Up to this time Rome had been to him the one central spot of 
Christianity and the pope the holiest of men, and from that grand 
sea of goodness, the rivers of light flowed forth to water all Christen- 
dom ; and with such a bandage on his eyes, how could he help 
clinging in some measure to the old superstition ; all that was now 
necessary was for him to go to Rome and have the bandage taken 
off", and so providence as it always does, opens the way, and in 
about 151 1, he was sent to the eternal city on business of the church 
as Paul was sent to Arabia before he was educated to preach the 
Gospel — not human education, for he had plenty of that, but he 
must go in company with God's spirit as well as the spirit of evil, to 
tempt him, to prove him, to perfect him. 

So was Luther sent to Rome — not to study the Aristotelian philo- 
sophy, the idol of that day, he understood that, but to stand face to 
face with God, in the hour of affliction. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. 89 

We will pass over his journey until he reaches Bologna, we have 
mentioned this elsewhere, in which city he was taken sick, and he 
knew not if it was not unto death. Those who know what it is to 
be under the tuition of the Holy Spirit can only form an idea of 
Luther's feelings ; all looked dark to him, but he was in the hands 
of God ; it is not necessary to be sick to learn of God, but this 
was God's plan now, and here he was away from home, among 
strangers, and expected every hour to be called to meet his God, 
helpless. 'Tis at that hour the soul flies into the arms of God 
and then God teaches him, speaks to him ; so it was with Luther ; 
he had now to learn a lesson of faith and the words he had heard 
before came to his soul. "The just must live by faith ;" and this 
was the lesson he had to learn, to ponder over, to be made perfect 
in, and it being as seed sown in his heart, he was raised up from 
his bed of sickness a new man, and allowed to proceed on his 
journey, and to let tircumstances ripen what faith had begun. 

Luther now stands in the eternal city, the paradise of his imagin- 
ation ; he has had a strange experience on his way here, mixing 
with priests whom he sees are only playing a part, pretending to be 
religious, but infidels at heart and here let me ask, if these priests 
had been ever so fervent in the Roman religion, what else could they 
be but infidels, Romanism itselt being an infidelity ? But they were 
infidels toward the faith they professed and this shook his confidence 
more and more in the holy church so-called. 

But he is now in Rome and finds the words of God in Revelation 
XVIII, 2, literally fulfilled. And he cried mightily with a strong 
voice, saving, "Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habi- 
tation of devils and the hold of every fowl spirit and a cage of every 
unclean and hateful bird." 

He found the priests of Rome to be scoffers, mockers, drunkards, 
adulterers mocking behind the scenes ever their one great hold, the 
mass, together with tlie Virgin Mar}^ of whom they preach so much 



90 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

to a superstitious congregation, and the luxuries and tlie corruption 
of the Vatican so opened his eyes that Romanism went down below 
zero, the Bible became more and more precious to him ; still on his 
return he did not separate himself from the Roman church, but 
thought he could, with others, bring about a reformation. 

It was some time after his return that he nailed up his Thesis 
before spoken of. He was shortly afterwards summoned to the 
council of Augsburg, and then the fight for the reformation begun in 
earnest. 

It is not the intention to give in this book the history of protestan- 
tism, that has been done by brilliant writers. The object is to show 
how useless such a system as poper}'- is, excepting for evil ; to show 
it does not help the light but extinguishes it : does not, like protest- 
antism bring peace and joy, but the reverse ; war, poverty, igno- 
rance and desolation, and to bring into prominence some of the 
actions of this so-called church, that we may be able to give a 
reason for the title of this book and ask the public the question its 
title indicates, as well as the interests society demands. Why have 
priests at all? 

Luther, after his conversion became a great spiritual power, and 
God raised up many brilliant and powerful characters to assist him 
in his work, both military and spiritual in the popish world. 

And that all countries under the 3'oke were desirous to shake off 
this tyrant and hopes were bright for a time. But this terrible beast 
that was, and is not, and yet is, was at first at bay, but afterwards 
rallied with fresh rage and force and brought the cunning of hell to 
its aid. 

And after Luther's death, one country after another were forced 
in the most cruel manner to return to the blackness of midnight's dark- 
ness. France, Spain and Germany were in league with this terrible 
beast through their kings and emperors. 



LUTHER AND TIMES OF THE REFORMATION. gi 

These leaders who were as blind as the pope and who were think- 
ing more of the powerful alliances than their countr3'-'s good, were 
sacrificing and driving away their best citizens, and England also at 
first was one of the persecutors, under that tyrant, Henry VIII. 

We propose in the next chapter to speak on some of the stamping 
processes as well as of the time this terrible beast came up from the 
bottomless pit. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

THE WALDENSES. 

"And the beast which I saw was like a Leopard, and his feet were as the feet 
of a Bear, and his mouth, as the mouth of a Lion! and the dragon gave 
him his power, and his seat, and great authority, and it was given unto 
him, to make war with the saints and to overcome them." Revelation 
XIII, 2, part of 7. 

THIS is the same terrible beast spoken of in the last chapter, 
that ascended out of the bottomless pit, only here we have 
a different view. 

Then she was scarlet colored and drunk with the blood of the 
saints, ready to go into perdition. Now her work is all before her ; 
that scarlet color may mean the dresses of popes and cardinals, or 
allude to their being made scarlet by the rivers of bloodshed , it will 
answer for either, or both ; you see now she has bear's feet and the 
mouth of a Lion ; never was such a terrible beast before on earth so 
competent to do bloody work, and the dragon gave her his power. 

The dragon is the old pagan power and once more we see the 
connections the old power resuscitated, and it was given unto him to 
make war with the saints. The word given, means that permission 
will not be withheld to go and do what your inclinations lead you to 
do, but there was to be a limit of fort} and two months, or 1260 
years. 



THE WALDENSES. 93 

Daniel's first beast was descriptive of the cruelty of the old Baby- 
lonish empire ; a fiery furnace for all who will not worship the 
golden image Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 

This resurrected Roman idolatry prepares stake and fagot and 
every conceivable method for the destruction of God's saints who 
will not bow down to this New Golden Calf. 

As we said before, popery begun its existence as an organized 
body in the year 606. 

Phocas, the tyrant and murderer, at this time governed the em- 
pire and partly out of revenge against Cyriacus, and also for politi- 
cal purposes, he gave the bishop of Rome the position of universal 
bishop of all the churches of Christendom. This bishop was named 
Boniface III. 

Wliy should he require to be universal bishop, if he was already 
pope. Historians who think popery began at an earlier date, take 
their statements from the traditions of this church, made many cen- 
turies later from the time we are now writing and which are on no 
account authentic, made to deceive at a very superstitious age. Those 
who lake Bible history into account think this was the first pope. 
If Boniface III. was chosen, he died in the same year. Then 
Phocas elevated a priest of the Roman church (in 607) who took his' 
position, it is said, under the name of Boniface IV. He gave to him 
the pantheon, built thirty 3'ears before the christian era, and which 
had been consecrated to all the divinities of paganism ; he accented 
it and made it into a splendid church. 

The short lives of the popes is one great lesson of the times. This 
newly created universal bishop died in the year of his elevation, and 
on examining the record, we find 33 popes to have died before the 
end ot the next century. 

And no wonder; some were poisoned, some stabbed to death, 
sti angled, sent into exiie, one dies in three days, others of horrid dis- 
eases, and some very suspicious cases. And this is a specimen ot 
its hi-tor}-, hated l)y all. 



94 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The hunted people of God sending up their prayers as witnesses 
against them, others forced to put on a show of submission, breath- 
ing curses, not loud but deep. 

It was a big price to pay for the earthly satisfaction of being called 
a pope, and all this proves this religion to come from the bottomless 
pit, forced on the people by fraud and violence ; like its sister 
Mohammedanism, its success was assured only at the point of the 
sword. And now in the eighth century begins the temporal power 
of the popes. 

Pepin, after his war in Italy gave the pope what was known as 
the states of the church. Afterwards it was fully confirmed by 
Charlemagne, so that Rome, Ravenna and Lombardy were fulh- 
placed under the pope and constituted his temporal kingdom. 

We will say nothing about the tons of blood shed to get this 
socalled church its earthly position, the poison, assassination, the 
wars, the dreadful carnage, the deceptions, the ruin to the poor and 
helpless ; history furnishes this to those wishing to know. Our 
business is with the future of this socalled church. 

And having gained this temporal power the pope begins to forge 
spiritual. 

He can only keep what he has by making fresh demands, so 
he now claims to be the successor of Peter, the Prince of the Apostles 
and the Vicar of Christ ; he makes a tremendous leap from universal 
bishop to be above all earthly kings and potentates, and to stand in 
the place of God. 

And this is the form this leopard with bear's feet and lion's mouth 
assumes, ready to make war with the saints and overcome. And 
being now master of the states of the church, afterwards known as 
St. Peter's patrimony, he concluded the people went with it, and 
that they would be just what he wanted to tind them, without con- 
science, thought or individuality ; but these people had not been ac- 
customed to bow the knee to Baal, and he was astonished to find 
close at home great opposition. 



THE \\'ALDENSES. 95 

The churches of Milan, the plain of Lombardy, the Alps of Pied- 
mont, and surrounding countries had been established in the religion 
as taught by the apostles and diciples, and they had drank in the 
word of God as given in the Bible, the same as the apostles preached, 
also the Protestants of to-day. 

They could not tolerate this new doctrine, images, saints, relics, 
also concerning the sacrament, the blasphemous doctrine of transub- 
stantiation was to them a thing unheard of, and many looked with 
alarm at this dreadful form of religion. 

' The Waldenses were a sect said to have derived their name from 
Peter Waldo, of Lyons, and he preached the pure doctrine about 
ii8o; his views spread through France, Italy and Bohemia, also in 
the provinces and in the valley of Piedmont. 

These people so near Rome, humbled this arrogant power, by not 
submitting to his authorit}', especially as some lived on or near 
ground he considered his own. A crusade was preached against 
them, and large numbers were put to death ; those living in the 
valley were greatly persecuted under Sixtus IV. 

Innocent the Third, 1198, had already sent the monks Rainier 
and Guy to the south of France, with power to constrain the Vandois 
or Waldenses, to renounce or revoke, and to employ for this purpose 
the sword, water and fire, and as these good monks should judge it 
necessar}', to use one or the other, or all three together for the 
greater glory of God. 

"Thus" says Pirrin : "All Christendom was agitated by the sight 
of unfortunate men hung to gallows, tortured on wooden horses or 
burned on funeral piles, because they placed their trust in God alone, 
and refused to believe in the vain ceremonies invented by men." 

And as the pope was in a great hurry for extermination, if 
necessary, and the above gentle means not doing the work fast 
enough, this power with the lion's mouth sent other legates from 
Rome to hasten the work in the destruction of all heretics even to 



96 WHY HAVE, PRIESTS AT ALL? 

the last man, but these Vandois were obstinate, and could or would 
not see ; not after these monks had preached idolatry ; they spent 
their eloquence in vain ; this sect increasing daily, and recruits were 
found among the great men of the country, including the Count of 
Toulouse and the Count of Foix, the executions became more diffi- 
cult, and the people arose and stoned to death one of the pope's 
legates, the greatest scoundrel of them all. 

This was a just execution, but the pope called it a murder, and was 
resolved to avenge it terribly, and caused a crusade to be preached 
against the unfortunate Waldenses. 

We cannot form an idea of what the preaching of a crusade means 
in this day of Protestant freedom. Just fancy the worst part of this 
fanatical population, being appealed to by the church they think 
is what it represents itself to be, and in this preaching to give 
them license to let loose all their evil passions without restraint or 
penalty, and more, to reward them with not only all the plunder 
they can rob from those they assail, be it land money or goods, but 
to be told such villainy is pleasing in the sight of God, and if they 
die during the crusade, their souls are accepted at once in heaven. 

The pope had his army, as well as each countr}*, and a banner of 
the cross, under which they fought ; these together with the above 
to be let loose among the peaceful christians. It makes one shudder 
to think of it, and then to remember this was the religion of this 
socalled church that has and does to-day, tell you it stands in the 
place of Jesus Christ. 

These are the means they adopted to establish this Confederacy' 
and Pope as the vicegerent of Jesus Christ. 

The crusaders could not reach the interior of the country until a 
new legate named Dominick and the Count De Montford, came with 
an army of twent\--four thousand men. 

They then laid seige to Beziers, a flourishing cit}', who courage- 
ously resisted these fanatics for a month. A horrible famine at last 



THE WALDENSES. 97 

caused these heroes to propose a surrender, but these sweet saints 
had sworn to exterminate these brave defenders. 

The Count de Beziers and the venerable perfect of the city, cast 
themselves at the feet of St. Dominick, asking him to spare, if not 
the christians, at least the Catholics, but No I he had received orders 
from the pope to burn the city, and put all to the sword, friends and 
foes, Protestant and Catholic alike, kill all, kill all, was the order, 
and God will know his own. 

The seige was pushed with fresh vigor and at last it fell into 
the hands of the crusaders. Then began a butchery that nothing in 
the world exceeds. 

The Dominick, the supposed man of God, with cross in one hand, 
the pope's bull in the other, urging on the fanatical soldiers to car- 
nage, incendiarism and every frightful outrage to men and women. 

They did their work so well that sixty thousand dead bodies of 
men, women and children, old and voung alike were swallowed up 
beneath the smoking ruins of the city reduced to ashes. 

Young women were reserved by these brutal soldiers for a fate too 
horrible to relate. 

Young boys and girls were led entirely naked to the tomb of the 
stoned legate, and then beaten by the monks with thongs loaded 
with lead. Their bodies entirely covered with blood were given 
over to the soldiers, afterwards murdered and their dead bodies hor- 
ribly pointed. 

Can anv one suppose such work as this could be done in the sac- 
red name of religion? Here is a city, prosperous, happy, their onl}' 
fault, in the eyes of this monster, the pope, is that they will not, all 
of them, because they know it to be wrong, sink so low, as to 
practice his devil's worship, for what else is it? Some of the inhabi- 
tants have already fallen and become Roman Catholics, and you 
would suppose when asked, this monster would have spared them, 
but no ! the answer is, murder all alike, and we also see the christian 



98 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

spirit in the count when finding his own case hopeless, lie pleads 
for the Catholics ; do we want any further evidence of the Bible 
being the word of God, than in the fulfillment of the prophecies, and 
also as to the time of their coming, let us ask here, as this S3'stem 
came from the bottomless pit, is it not sure the devil first blinds their 
eyes, fills them with fury and then leads them in some invisible 
manner? There are no monsters on earth so frightful as these 
religious fanatics, no beasts so savage, and the picture at the head 
of this chapter had to be made of a combination of frightful animals. 

And this carnage onl}^ stopped here, when the victims were no 
more, so with fury thev went and attacked the count de Beziers at 
Carcassone, who resolved to resist to the uttermost, but he also pro- 
posed terms, and this Dominick would listen to nothing unless the 
whole of the inhabitants would come out of the walled cit3\ men and 
women, naked, and retire to a certain place, and await mercy. 
These terms being refused, the place was defended, for a few weeks 
longer, when it fell into the hands of the Count De Montford, and it 
shared the same fate as Beziers. Other cities such as Toulouse, 
Alby, Castle Naudary and all the cities of the south, where Albigen- 
ses were to be found, was sacked by this army of assassins. 

This was a great blow to the christians of the thirteenth century, 
the whole country for the time being was ruined. 

The rich and fertile land was now covered with ashes, and those 
that escaped were, for the time houseless wanderers, but the sect 
was not yet killed, it was the means of scattering the seed broadcast, 
destined to spring up after many davs. 

For these Waldenses continued to hold to the Bible and the teach- 
ings of Christ and the apostles, and were never realh' conquered, 
although persecutions followed them and their descendants, who now 
occupied the valleys nearer the x-Vlps. 



THE WALDENSES. 



99 



They were for centuries exposed to all sorts of kidnapping by the 
inquisitors, taken by treachery, and when they ventured into towns 
they were liable to be taken and burned at the stake. 

History is so full of these dreadful horrors with stakes all over the 
country, that we are at loss which we shall record, and it is only 
when one piece of villainy seems to stand out more prominent that 
we make a note of it. 

The Christmas of 1379 witnessed a dreadful scene in the valley of 
Pragelas ; the winter snows had just set in and the people consider- 
ing this as a protection, begun to feel safe, but suddenly an army 
led by an inquisitor named Borelly, rushed in their midst intending 
to exterminate the whole of the population. 

Those of the inhabitants who were able rushed with all their speed 
to the mountains, taking as many of the old, young and sick, with 
them as it was possible, knowing they would be all murdered if left 
behind. 

And this in the storm and snow, in the ice bound mountains, a 
great many of the fugitives collected in the valley of San Martino, 
where they crept together on a summit without food, clothing or 
shelter, being exposed to the winter wind, ice and snow, their suffer- 
ings were beyond description, and when morning came, numbers 
were found with frozen feet, hands, arms, some frozen to death, 
scores of young children were found dead, some on the bare snow, 
others in their mothers arms. 

That night is spoken of among the descendants of these illused 
people to-day, and year after year, century after century, these per- 
secuted people are followed and hunted by this Leopard with the 
feet of a bear and the mouth of a Lion. Some of their children leave 
the mountains and mix in the cities, where they sow the seed that is 
a constant scource of trouble to this man, who finds himself impotent 
for their destruction. 



lOO WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL T 

They have such an unconquering spirit, therefore they must be ex- 
terminated ; the fires of the inquisition, tortures, chains, rack, screw, 
none of these can bend their spirit. So a fresh crusade must be 
made against them in the mountains, the Alps, anywhere where 
they can be found and wiped out from the face of the earth. And 
this work against these inoffensive people begins over again. 

It is the same old Leopard, only a few centuries later, and has 
simply changed his name from pope Innocent III. to pope Innocent 
VIII. 

He begins in the usual sanctimonious way, by issuing bulls of ex- 
termination against heretics, offering as before, rewards in the shape 
of pardons and plunder, and blaspheming God's name by attaching 
it to this work of the gate of hell. The king of France and the duke 
of Savoy lent their armies for this religious work. Soldiers were en- 
listed everywhere. 

This was to be a universal destruction of this sect, not in the 
mountains only, but everywhere. This heresy must be stamped 
out. 

The order was general, the excitement the same, every country 
knew what this most holy pope was going to do, the news went 
ever3'where, excepting to tlie poor people most interested. 

Muston savs, " 'In the train of this armed host came a motley 
crowd of volunteers, vagabond adventurers, ambitious fanatics, reck- 
less pillagers, merciless assasins, assembled from parts of Italy, a 
horde of brigands, in short the worthy tools of the man whose bloody 
work they were assembled to do.' 

This army of nearly twenty thousand men beside the followers 
were in two divisions. 

The French advanced to attack the Dauphinese Alps, and the 
other the Italian side, so the armies would meet in the middle of the 
mountain range ; no quarter is to be given : nothing but deaih, plun- 
der and destruction. 



THE WALDENSES. lOl 

The inhabitants seeing an army enter their vale so much greater 
than themselves in number, could not resist, and these placing their 
children and the old and infirm, together with what provisions they 
could find, in any vehicle at hand, driving their cattle before them, 
began to climb the slopes of Mount Petroux, five or six thousand feet 
above the level of the valley. They then took refuge in an immense 
cavern and thought themselves safe, for the cavern was so situated 
they could defend the entrance against large odds. 

So these fiends in human shape thought it wiser not to attack, but 
to block up the entrance with all the wood they could find and set 
fire to it ; the smoke entered the cavern and suffocated men and 
women and children ; a few tried to escape, but were butchered. 

Muston says, 'when the cavern was afterwards examined, four 
hundred infants were found suffocated in their cradles, or in the 
arms of their dead mothers.' 

Altogether there perished in this cavern three thousand Vaudois, 
which included the whole population of Val Loyse. 

The property of these poor creatures was given to the wretches 
doing this bloody work and the church of Christ was destroyed from 
these ruined valleys. 

In speaking of this pope, L. M. De Cormein says, 'Innocent 
united to his other vices, a naturally sanguinary disposition, and a 
ferocity which appeared in ihe briefs he addressed to the bishop of 
Brescia, and the inquisitor of Lombardy, in order to engage them 
to persecute the .heretics, and to publish a crusade against the Vau- 
dois of the valley of the Loire.' " De Cormein His. of popes, vol. 2, 
page 147. 

Perrin thus relates this persecution : 

"Albert, Arch-deacon of Cremona, having been sent into France 
by Innocent VIII. to exterminate the Vaudois, obtained authority 
from the king to proceed against them without any judical forms. 



I02 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

and solely with the assistance of James de Lapalu, lieutenant ot the 
king, and the counsellor Maitre Jean Rabot. 

These three wretches, the legate, the lieutenant of the king and 
the counsellor, went to the valley of the Loire, at the head of a band 
ot fierce soldiers, to exterminate the inhabitants, but they found no 
one on their approach ; the unhappy people had fled with their chil- 
dren into the mountains which crown this fertile valley, and had con- 
cealed themselves in the depth of the numerous natural caverns 
which are found on their tops. 

The arch-deacon and his two acolytes then pursued them as if 
they had been chasing a fox, and every time they discovered a sub- 
terranean cavern in which the unfortunate Vaudois were concealed, 
they closed the entrance with heaps of straw on dry wood and set it 
on fire. 

In this manner these unfortunates were suffocated by the smoke ; 
or if they endeavored to escape from the caverns which were to 
become their tombs from the pikes of the soldiers and driven back to 
the flames." L. M. De Cormein's His. of popes, vol. 2, page 147. 

"The terrors which this punishment inspired became so great that 
most of the Vaudois who had so far escaped the researches of the 
pope, murdered themselves or cast themselves into the abysses rally 
of the mountains to avoid being wasted alive. 

When the executioners had no wood with which to stifle their vic- 
tims in this horrible hunt, they contented themselves with closing up 
the entrances to the caverns with rocks, or with walling up the cis- 
terns so that afterwards, after the departure of the legate, when they 
made excavations in the mountains, they found more than eight hun- 
dred dead bodies of young children stifled in their cradles or in the 
arms of their mothers, dead like them from fire or famine. 

The executioners did their work so well, that of the six thousand 
Vaudois, who peopled this fertile valley, there remained but six 
hundred to weep over the death of their brethren. 



THE WALDENSES. IO3 

All the property of these unfortunates was divided between 
Jacques de Lapalu, the arch-deacon of Cremona, and Maitre Jean 
Rabot ; each of them received tokens of the munificence of the 
sovereign, and the legate obtained the dignity of bishop, as a reward 
for having fulfilled his duties with vigor and energy." L. M. De 
Cormein's His. of popes, vol. 2, page 148. 

Betore we go further let us say, if any one doubts who these Wal- 
denses were, or as to the religion they professed — we say we have 
ample evidence — they were the prirnitive christians, and their per- 
secuters the Roman Catholics. 

They believed and lived up to the teachings of the Bible as taught 
by Jesus Christ and the apostles ; society as then constituted was 
almost the reverse of to-day. Good was called evil and evil good. 
The Jesuits had helped to make worse an already corrupt pagan 
people, and the change from that time to this, although it has been 
gradual, has been brought about by the Protestants. 

"TheNobila Ley con has the following passage on the Waldenses r 
'If there be an honest man, who desires to love God and fear Jesus 
Christ, who will neither slander, nor swear, nor lie, nor commit 
adultery, nor kill, nor steal, nor avenge himself of his enemies, they 
presently say of such a one, he is a Vaudois, and worthy of death.' 

Rev. J. A. Wylie says, 'If doubt there were regarding the tenets 
of the Waldenses, the charges which their enemies have preferred 
against them would set all doubt at rest, and make it tolerable cer- 
tain that they held substantially what the apostles before their day, 
and the Reformers after it, taught. 

The indictments against the Waldenses included a formidable list 
of heresies.' 

They held that there had been no pope, since the days of Sylvester 
that temporal offices were not meant for preachers of the Gospel 
that the pope's pardons were a cheat ; that purgatory was a fable 
that relics were simply rotton bones, which had belonged to one 



I04 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

knew not whom ; that to go on a pilgrimage served no end, save to 
empty one's purse ; that flesh might be eaten any da}' if one's appe- 
tite served him ; that holy water was not a whit more efficacious 
than rain water, and that prayer in a barn, was just as effectual as if 
offered in a church. They were accused, moreover, of having 
scoffed at the doctrine of transubstantiation and of having spoken 
blasphemously of Rome, as the harlot of the Apocalypse." Wylie, 
His. of Protestantism, vol, page 28. 

Notice the last hours of this infamous pope that was hunting to 
death these good people by the following : 

"Thus did the infamous Innocent triumph over his foe, and the 
oldest of his bastards was recognized as a prince. 

But divine justice had marked out the termination of his crimes, 
and he died on the 25ih of July 1491, from an attack of apoplex}'. 

Stephen Infessura maintains, that the holy father in his last sick- 
ness attempted to reanimate the scources of life by means of a fright- 
ful beverage composed bv a Jewish phvsician with the blood of three 
young boys of ten years old, who were murdered for the purpose. 
Onuphre and Ciaconius relate the same fact, which they place at an 
earlier period." L. M. De Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. 2, page 
149. 

We are tired of recording the deeds of this army ; to give all the 
details would fill a whole book, and we have so many other places 
to speak of. 

We will finish our record of this one sect b}' saying that wherever 
the soldiers went, happy homes were destroyed, and without much 
resistance ; they w^ere persecuted as long as the popes had power. 

One detachment of the Piedmontees army, seven hundred strong, 
cast their eyes on the peaceful valley of Prali ; they had climbed on 
their hands and knees to the overlooking slope, and there saw these 
people gathering their harvest, with their children playing around 
them. 



THE WALDENSES. IO5 

The doings of these hired assasins had gone before them, and 
these people had made ready for defense, and when these seven 
hundred rushed down, they joined the battle, and with a prayer to 
God and a trust in his deliverance, the whole of these wretches were 
struck down, excepting one man, who was allowed to escape, to tell 
the army the kind of resistance they had met. 

Can anyone imagine, says bishop Newton, or even frame an}^ 
conception of the numbers of pious christians who have fallen 
a sacrifice to the bigotry and cruelty of Rome. Mede hath ob- 
served from good authorities, that in the war, the Albigines and 
Waldenses there perished of these poor creatures, in France 
alone, a million, from the first institution of the Jesuites to the year 
1580 ; that is in little more than thirty years, nine hundred thousand 
orthodox christians were slain, and these by the common execu- 
tioner. In the space of thirty years the inquisition destroyed bv 
various kinds of torture a hundred and fifty thousand christians. 

These Waldenses or Vaudois, this sect standing alone, have never 
been conquered, although the whole power of this infamous church 
had been united against them. There were man}' of them living 
close to the seat of this worse than apostasy, and some of them on 
the land known as the states of the church ; on these lands has the 
blood of this worthy race been shed, and has risen 10 feed other 
nations ; they were persecuted from the beginning of the power of 
the papacy, down to the time when Napoleon III. had to take his 
soldiers away that were propping up Rome and, to the Italians, 
this hated church. And then when Victor Emanuel became king of 
Italy, and in 1866 took from the pope these states of the church which 
had been held so long against the wishes of the people of Ital}' ; and 
so ended the temporal power of the pope, and with it his means of 
doing mischief. 



io6 



WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL: 



Now notice the prophecy of John ; he said this power, or beast, 
would be permitted to continue torty and two months or twelve hun- 
dred and sixty years. 

Now let us see what light this persecuted Bible gives us. See 
Revelation XII. 6, 17: "And the woman fled into the wilderness 
where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her 
there a thousand two hundred and three score days, (twelve hundred 
and sixty years) and the dragon was wroth with the woman and went 
to make war with the remnant of her seed, which kept the command- 
ments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." We see 
here the woman, the church, flies into the wilderness to a place pre- 
pared of God, and she was to be fed a thousand two hundred and 
three score days ; count a day for a year and that will give it to 
you, twelve hundred and sixty years ; she was driven away by this 
power putting itself in her place, and which called herself the church, 
and that came vip h^om the bottomless pit. 

Do not the children of God constilaite the church? Then the 
woman, the church, found a refuge in the wilderness, in the persons 
of these Waldenses and at many other places, and the dragon made 
war with the remnant of her seed. 

That is, with any who are believers in die word of God. 

The dragon having given her power to the Leopard, she stands in 
her place, and b}^ this act the deadly wound was healed. 

We see the time for the church's flight and that allowed tor the 
pope to make war with the saints, is exacth^ the same, nameh', 
twelve hundred and sixty 3'ears, so as soon as the pope loses his 
power, the church's flight is over — she is restored. 

Surely in this one sect alone the prophecy of both Daniel and John 
has been tulfilled, also the words of our Saviour. 

"The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 

For it is yet in existence, having been hunted by this so-called 
church over a thousand years, and now the Italian government has 



THE WALDENSES. IO7 

given them the liberty to worship God, according to their own con- 
science, and which ought never to have been interfered with. They 
are now up and popery down, popery is hated while Christianity will 
soon cover the earth as the waters cover the ocean. 

Have not these people kept the commandments of God, when he 
said : "be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life," 
also, "fear not them that kill the body, and which is all that they can 
do, but fear him, who hath power to cast into hell fire ;" and again, 
there are some that will kill you, and think the}^ are doing God ser- 
vice ; had they not also the testimony of Jesus Christ manifested to 
them, could they give up everything in this world, even life itself, if 
they had not, and were they not faithful witnesses during the whole 
of their history? 

I should now like to draw the pope's attention to a few things. 
You have had the feast, and had it pretty much your own way dur- 
ing these many years, let us see what the cost will be. 

Surely you cannot expect to fight against God's saints, to live on 
the fat of the earth without paying for it ; making, yes making, for it 
is very little you would get unless you had inspired your followers' 
hearts with fear, so compelling people to furnish you means to live 
deliciously, counting the lives of the people of no more value than 
the dust under your feet ; aye, and their souls too. 

Let us take a peep into the despised Bible and see what will be the 
outcome of all this ; for if your traditions are not reliable, the word of 
God is. 

You have taken a great many liberties with us protestants, and the 
writer is one, real, sure and uncompromising, so let us say a few 
words to you or about you, and those interested, with the hope it 
may do good. 

What is the meaning of Revelation XX. lo? "And the devil that 
deceiveth them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where 



loS WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and 
night, forever and ever." 

Who is the false prophet? We know who the other two are, so 
let us see. 

God is more angry with unbelievers than anyone else, and the 
greatest of these must be him that treats his word as naught. 

So in this false prophet we see another Bible hater, in the person 
of Mohammed : he is the false prophet, and his followers, they dis- 
dain God's word, and have also made one of their own. Therefore 
the Bible is, to them, dead. See Revelations XI, 8 : "And their dead 
bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which, spiritually, is 
called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." 

Thes» dead bodies are the two witnesses, the old and new testa- 
ment, and it is also certain that this is the cit}' of Jerusalem, now 
under the rule of the Turk. 

And they are to lie unburied three da3-s and a half or twelve hun- 
dred and sixty }ears ; the same time again, as the church is to be in 
the wilderness and the pope to have temporal power, and after that 
time, see eleventh verse, "the spirit of life from God, entered into 
them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them, 
which saw them." 

We are not now writing about anything but popery ; this diversion 
is only to show who the false prophet is. 

Will simpiv say that the dead bodies are already risen, and the 
Bible is being sown broadcast over the Turkish Empire, and that in- 
cludes Jerusalem, and the Turks are in great fear of the consequences 
of its risino-. What a terror this book is to unbelievers. We believe 
repentance is open to all, and to those that do not avail themselves of 
it, however great they may appear in this Hfe, if they leave it without 
reconciliation to God, they will look with sorrow on the despised and 
hunted Waldenses who will shine in- the great kingdom of their 
Father. 



THE WALDENSES. IO9 

We will now return to our subject. 

This is not all the Bible says : let us read a little more. Revela- 
tions XVIII, 4-8, inclusive. 

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, come out of her 
m\- people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive 
not her plagues. 

For her sins have reached unto heaven and God hath remembered 
her iniquities. 

Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double 
according to her work, in the cup which she hath filled, fill her 
double. 

How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so 
much torment and sorrow give her, for she saith in her heart, I sit a 
Queen, and am no widow and shall see no sorrow. 

Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning 
and famine, and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is 
the Lord who judgeth her." 

These verses follow in the order of time after the temporal power 
of the pope is taken away, and not yet altogether fulfilled. 

Whether they will be literally fulfilled. I know not ; it says her 
plagues are to come in one day, a day in Bible prophecy is one year, 
and it is well not to neglect such warnings ; the only safe waA' is to 
come out of her ; remember all Bible warnings are true, and are 
coming to pass : it would be strange if this was the only one allowed 
to pass unnoticed. 

1 should now like to draw my reader's attention to the reading of 
the Revelations, the greater part of which is on the subject of the rise 
and fall of popery and Mohammedanism ; the language is somewhat 
figurative but is easily mastered. 

The writer's whole heart is in this subject, and he wishes to show 
as far as he can, how God in his holy word, views this idolatry. So 
he will place before you a few more verses, and with a few remarks 



no WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

conclude this chapter. See Revehition XVIII, 20. "Rejoice over 
her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets ; for God hath 
avenged you on her." See Revelation XII, 7, 8. "And there was 
war in Heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 
and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was 
their place found any more in Heaven." 

The dragon here means the devil and his angels ; the idolatry of 
the Pagans was devil worship. See Revelation IX, 20. "And 
the rest of the men which were not killed by their plagues, yet re- 
pented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship 
devils and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and of wood which 
neither can see, nor hear, nor walk." 

Constantine by the help of God, prevailed over him, and he was 
cast out ; the word heaven means here, the earth, and he was cast 
out, and Christianity put in its place. 

Then in verses 10, 11, with part of 12, same chapter. "There is 
great rejoicing, therefore rejoice ye heavens and ye that dwell in 
them." 

This is christians rejoicing at their religion being recognized by 
the state. They believe God has answered their prayer, and that 
they have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and b}- the word of 
their testimony, and that salvation and strength and the Kingdom of 
our God, and the power of his Christ has come upon the earth. 

So the}' rejoiced as we do now, in a grand revival meeting 
amongst God's chosen ones. 

How long this went on we can only guess ; there were nearly three 
centuries to pass before this leopard (Poper}') was set up, and after 
this rest the church was to be again tried to its utmost capacity, before 
it should be fully established on the earth. 

So during this time the devil was corrupting the real church to pull 
it down and making read}' for his church he was going to set up. 
Then see the remainder of 12th verse, same chapter ; there must be 



THE WALDENSES. Ill 

a long space between the first two lines of this verse and the remaint 
der, which begins : "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, 
for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because 
he knows he hath but a short time. 

So when he had his church fully established, there begins again 
the persecution of the woman and her seed. 

A few of the persecutions have been already described in the horrid 
treatment of the Waldenses. 

This is rather a different stor}- to what the people belonging to the 
Roman Church have been forced to hear, and do still hear ; they 
have been taught to fear all these 3'ears, this man that said he had 
heaven and hell at his command, and could open the gates or shu- 
them. The people think, some at least, to-day, that the priests have 
great power over them, only they are so merciful, and do not use it. 
Oh ! save us from such nonsense. 

The voice from Heaven in the 4th verse does not seem to recog- 
nize this great power, but rather ihe reverse. It warns all to come 
away for fear of partaking of her punishment ; great plagues are in 
store. You may judge for yourselves by reading the whole chapter ; 
such great sins call for punishment, double unto her double ; that 
must be awful, considering her cruelty all over Christendom. 

She has already, at different periods received great punishment in 
the several sackings of Rome and other places ; wars and desola- 
tions of divers countries, her expulsion and hatred by all : but there 
is more coming, and no doubt the worst of it, for John sees much 
more coming after the time she is drunk with the blood of the 
martyrs of Jesus. 

The 20th verse tells the holy apostles and prophets to rejoice at 
being avenged. How does that agree with apostolic succession? 
Peter and Paul would come in for some of this rejoicing, for there 
has been more villainy committed in their names than twenty books 
of this size could report ; it also says "in her was found the blood of 



112 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

prophets, and of saints and of all that were slain upon the earth." 
This must mean that the orders were issued from this place, Rome, 
for all this cruelty. 

Some writers think Jerusalem is included, and other places, in this 
destruction ; it may be so, but as to Rome, it is certain, she being 
Babylon the great, and with reference to her being a widow, that 
has been explained — separation of church and state. 

The French revolution, when the nobles were killed bv the Guillo- 
tine or banished, was the fruits of popery ; Spain and others must 
have suffered as by fire to see the protestant nations, these lovers of 
the Bible, take the first positions in the earth and themselves put 
back. 

But there is fearful distress caused everywhere, where poper}- is 
allowed to reign. 

James D. McCabe, in his history of the w^orld says : 

"Had the pope been a less selfish ruler, he might have made the 
beautiful domain, over which he was lord, one of the happiest 
regions upon earth. 

When the states of the church came into the possession of the pon- 
tiff', they were rich and prosperous. 

From the first, the pontiff made himself their absolute master, and 
step bv step deprived the people of every libert}- or right they had 
ever possessed. Taxes were levied on ever3'thing trom which a 
revenue could be derived. 

Even alum, salt, flour and meat were taxed ; the poor were crushed 
beneath the heav}^ burden laid upon them, enterprise was destroyed 
and industry discouraged. 

The popes regarded their temporal possessions merely as a scource 
of gain, and cared nothing for the inhabitants, whom the}' oppressed 
and robbed of their earnings. 

There was no such thing as personal or political liberty in this 
part of Italy. 



THE WALDENSES. II3 

The power of the papal government extended to every department 
of Hte, and any deviation from the exact line of conduct or of thought 
prescribed by the court of Rome was severely punished. Education 
was discouraged and idleness, povert}' and vice increased wdth fear- 
ful rapidity." History of the World, by James D. McCabe, page 
491. 

On reading such statements as the above, some will say, oh ! we 
are in a different age now. Perhaps we are, only do not thank 
popery for it. You will soon go back, if you let circumstances rule 
you. 

Shakespeare says, "trifles light as air are, to the jealous confirma- 
tion, strong as proofs of holy writ." The writer has a jealous eye for 
anything that savors of oppression by this class. Only this evening, 
November 25th, 1890, while sitting at the tea table, w^as told bv un- 
doubted authority that the domestic at the next house, on going to 
the priest with a bonnet on that he thought was to expensive, told 
her to buy cheaper ones in the future and give the money to the 
church. Had she lived in the olden times, such as we have been 
writing about, to this would have been added a threat, and perhaps 
an order to sell it and buy one cheaper and bring the money for the 
priest to spend. How would you, Roman Catholics, that have only 
the Protestants to thank for the liberty you enjoy, like to go back to 
these days? You would say, if asked, "Never!" And yet are 
you not helping them to gain their point with ^•our monev? Let 
them once get the upper hand, and all your liberty ends. 

You would find it a different country from what it is now, ihev 
will never get the full power of the past back again, but the} w-ill 
fight for their existence as a church, and may do much damage, and 
you may help them, but that Bible you are forbidden to read has 
spoken their doom, and it never fails. And what is tiie meaning of 
the eighth verse of the thirteenth chapter, about his worshippers not 



114 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

having their names written in the book of lite? It' 3'ou are anxious, 
read it for 3'ourself, and tind out what it means ; or are you deter- 
mined to go on as you have begun, and think yourself wiser than 
other people? You may nurse the idea of protestants being heretics 
until too late, and then may wake up and tind you are after all, the 
heretic. And that you have been worshipping all these years, "the 
Golden Call"," and helping to build up this man of sin. Do you, or 
any of 3'Ou think the actions of these so-called priests are consistent 
with men loving and tearing God? And remember you see them at 
their best in a protestant country. 

Go into a countrj' where they now have power, if there is one left, 
and then after tasting the liberty of a free country, you should decide 
to keep in with them, then you accept willingly, all this personal 
and spiritual bondage. 



CHAPTER VI. 
AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 

"Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." Pro- 
verbs XIV, 34. 

GOD loves righteousness, and hateth iniquity ; that being the 
case, how important for a nation to start well, and also to im- 
prove as we grow in strength, to cast our eyes back to our 
surroundings in our infancy, and reflect on the contrast of then and 
now and ask ourselves the question, has all this growth and develop- 
ment been the work of chance, have we been the arbitrators of our 
destiny, or has there been a strong hand ruling us, directing, so as 
to keep harm away, and are we now in the strength of manhood, 
able to do without that paternal care, or do we look to him daily 
who has so unmistakably led us to our present position? Have we 
ever considered, in its most vital sense, what the materials were 
of which this great Republic was composed, when it commenced 
its existence? 

We often hear coarse remarks made of our forefathers, the Puri- 
tans : whether justly or not, let facts decide. 

And who were the Puritans? They were a body of men who pro- 
fessed and who tried to build up the pure doctrines of Christianity, so 
long hidden from the world by a power claiming superior knowledge 
to the Great Law Giver. 



Il6 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The name Puritan was given as a term of reproach by their ene- 
mies, the Roman church ; they were truly the children of the refor- 
mation ; but not coming on the scene until some years after the grand 
movement had begun. 

When Henry VIII. took possession of the church of England, he 
had no desire for its reformation ; he simply made himself the head 
of this ecclesiastical body, and men were to be the same slaves as 
before ; there was very little alteration in the dogmas. 

The same arrogance was shown in the fact that the laity were ex- 
pected to receive all matters of faith laid down for their guidance 
upon the ground that it was beyond cheir ability either to estimate or 
judge ; but the European mind had shaken oft" its slavery and would 
think for itself. 

The followers of Crarmer were in favor o{ retaining some of the 
old dogmas of Rome, but a better and more advanced set of think- 
ers clung to 4:he doctrine of Calvin, and insisted on cleaning the New 
Church from all the slime and idolatry oi Rome. 

These honored men were THE FIRST PURITANS, a body 
within the church, but dissenting from man}- of its principles. They 
were what the church of Rome hates, Bible christians, hence they 
were named Puritans. 

They would have nothing to do with the traditions of popery ; 
they thought as our Saviour said of the Jews, "these traditions were 
dishonorable to God," and they clung to the onl}^ authority to be 
found in the Bible. 

They would not consent to any power in the king, dictating in 
matters of faith. 

They deni< d apostolic succession of bishops, and. believed all min- 
isters of the Gospel were equal as given in the Holy Scriptures. 

They, as might be supposed, became anti-popish, and believed in 
heartworship, and denied the ritualism of the day ; the wearing of 
a surplice, or square cap, was popish. 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. II7 

Hooper, the bishop of Gloucester, who was the head of this party, 
refused to wear them, and suffered imprisonment some months 
rather than yield. 

Time went on and Mar\-, or as she was called, "bloody Qiieen 
Mar)'," ascended the throne, and popery once more disgraced the 
nation. 

Let us draw the curtain o\^er this woman's reign ; we speak of her 
in another place, who lived a burden to herself, and to all around 
her ; we will only say here that with her death popery ceased to 
exist in England, and we hope forever, and also that Hooper the 
good bishop, as well as Crarmer, were burnt at the stake, during 
her reign, as heretics. 

In the reign of Elizabeth, the Puritans were subjected to great 
persecutions, Protestant persecuting Protestant, still they were a 
great and important power in the church and nation, and when 
Elizabeth died, the Puritans alone were about a hundred thousand 
strong. 

Then comes James I. to the throne, and he persecuted the Puri- 
tans ; he remembered John Knox of Scotland, what influence he had 
over his mother, whom Elizabeth beheaded, and he felt a delight in 
persecuting the party who held the same opinions as John Knox, 
and hated men to have freedom in matters of religion. And without 
speaking more in this chapter about English history, we conclude by 
saying, the persecutions became so severe that these best of men, 
for they are the best, come from what countr}' the}' may, were 
forced from their native land to seek a home where they might 
serve God according to the dictates of their conscience. 

And after a long voyage on the rough ocean, the Mayflower con- 
taining the first installment of the English Puritans, after many pri- 
vations, landed in America December i6th, 1620, and the place they 
landed they named Plymouth Rock. 



Il8 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

And in this manner the whole of the New England States became 
peopled by Puritans from England, to which were added occasion- 
ally Lutherans from Germany, Hugenots from France, Covenanters 
from Scotland, Moors from Spain, Hollanders and others, but from 
whatever country they came, their principles were the same. The}' 
were Puritans in heart and purpose, were Protestants in the strictest 
sense and these are the men that formed the foundation of the 
American Republic. 

What a narrow escape this country had from falling into spiritual 
slavery. 

France and Spain were doing the work of making it into a Roman 
Catholic country', although they hated each other at the same tiine, 
and were trying to outwit each other : there are no true bonds in 
popery. 

Spain was supreme in the West Indies, Mexico, Central and 
South America in the i6th and 17th Centuries. France held 
Canada and other places. 

A colony of French protestants had been established in Florida in 
the Spanish possessions. Philip II. of Spain hearing of it, became 
greatly incensed and would not allow such a colony to rest in peace ; 
he must exterminate the heretics. 

And he emplo3'ed for this purpose, Pedro Melendez de Aviles, an 
officer noted for his cruelty in the wars of Spanish America against 
the pirates. 

Philip agreed with that officer that he should conquer Florida 
within three years, and establish a colony of not less than five hun- 
dred persons ; one hundred should be married men, twelve priests 
of the Roman Church and four of the Jesuites order. 

The destruction of the French colony was not named in the agree- 
ment, but these two understood each other. 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. I I9 

The cry was at once raised in Spain that the heretics must be ex- 
terminated, and the required number of soldiers, sailors, priests and 
others were raised at once lor this religious work. 

They sailed in June 1565, and arrived oft' the coast of Florida the 
28th of August. 

The French fleet were anchored in the roadstead off" Fort Carolina, 
and the commander demanding the name and object of the visit, 
answered, I am Melendez of Spain, sent with strict orders from my 
king to gibbet and behead all the protectants in these regions ; the 
Frenchmen who are Catholics 1 will spare : every heretic shall die. 

The French fleet not being ready for battle cut its cables and 
stood out to sea. 

Melendez gave chase but failed to overtake, returned to the harbor 
of St. Augustine, went on shore the 8th of September, took posses- 
sion of the country in the name of Philip II, of Spain, who was 
proclaimed monarch of all North America. 

The French fleet became wrecked which became known to 
Melendez ; he resolved to strike a blow at the fort, knowing it to be 
in a defenseless state ; he lead his men through the forests and 
swamps, he surprised and captured the fort on the 21st day of 
September. 

Ever3' soul within the walls including the aged, the women and 
children was put to death ; a few escaped to the woods. Their con- 
dition became dreadful, death awaited them there. 

A few gave themselves up to the Spaniards and were at once 
murdered. 

The number at the fort murdered was about two hundred , and when 
there were no more to murder, then a cross was raised, a site selected 
for a church, and mass was said. 

Of course such a righteous act as this could not be done without 
saying mass or offering up one more blasphemy to cover over their 
wickedness. 



I20 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

Then, after arranging for a new church to make more such men 
as this leader and followers and their master Philip II, Melendez sets 
out to find the survivors of the shipwrecked fleet. 

He found them in a helpless condition, worn out with fatigue, 
hunger and thirst ; he promised them protection and kindness, if 
they would surrender, so they put themselves in his hands, who at 
once treacherously bound them and marched them back to St. 
Augustine ; as they neared the settlement, at a given signal, the 
Spaniards fell upon and massacred all but a few Roman Catholics, 
who they made slaves of. 

French writers place the number of those who fell at the two mas- 
sacres at nine hundred. The Spaniards give a smaller number. 

Melendez set up this inscription: "I do not this as unto French- 
men, but as unto Lutherans." (James D. McCabe, His. United 
States, page 85.) 

And this wicked act was afterwards avenged by a French part}' 
capturing a Spanish fort near the same place and hanging all the 
prisoners, who wrote on another inscription, "I do not this as unto 
Spaniards, or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers and murderers." 
(James D. McCabe, His. United States, page 85.) 

And this is the manner the world has been kept in war and blood- 
shed during all the time this wicked socalled church has had the 
power to do it. 

And in the name of Him whose coming was attended with hosts of 
angels singing, "peace on earth, good will to men." 

The people on this continent are not aware of the many brutal 
acts, unless thev are close readers, committed even here in America 
by this Jesuitical power before this country' was fairly settled. 
Suffice to say it has been computed over a million Indians have been 
murdered, by their trying to force this idolatry upon them. 

They could not by any possible chance deceive the earl)' settlers' 
for they knew them so well. And they, tiie Roman Catholics with 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 121 

their old policy, waited until they had died oft, and the rising genera- 
tions being ignorant of the facts, not having read their histoi"y, so 
the time is now propitious and they come forward to this virgin soil, 
putting the best face on, clothed with a religious garb, so much so, 
the people who worship in their churches have no idea of the real 
character of this great confederacy. 

The early settlers had a divine hand sheilding and taking them 
under then- protection, and where these people can no longer deceive 
they persecute, as the}' did the early settlers. 

The French Jesuit missionaries were well trained for their work 
in America and Canada ; there was nothing so sacred to them as the 
murder of the Puritans, or English heretics. 

They were constantly inciting the Indians to a state of furj- against 
the English. And after confessing and absolving the dusky warriors 
they sent them out to do their bloody work, giving them assurance, 
that murder, arson, pillage, destruction and frightful carnage would 
please theii' father in heaven and be sure and gain them admission 
there. And through this teaching many places were burned, sett- 
lers killed, wumen and children carried into captivity ; tracks of 
desolation all through the new settler's country. 

We find as the fruit of this christian spirit, attacks made on such 
places as Schenectady, N. Y., Deerheld and Haverhill, Mass., 
Salmon Falls in New Hampshire, Casco in Main and other places, 
and after peace was made, two Jesuit priests, Thury and Bigot, in- 
duced the eastern Indians to break the treaty and renew the war, 
and took pride in confessing tliemselves to be the instigators of the 
atrocities of the savages. 

Let us stop here I We lately read of a new order — there was not 
enough before — being instituted under the teaching and guidance of 
a rich lady, for the conversion, it says, of the^e same Indians, to- 
gether with the colored folks. Just ask ourselves, is this all for 



122 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

religion, or is it a weapon to hold over us to come forward at a weak 
moment? Americans, look into this ! and when you have satistied 
yourselves it is all right, why then rest. 

The English settlers well understood such tactics ; it was history 
repeating itself and they regarded not for the first time, the Jesuits 
as the enemies of mankind. 

No wonder English Protestants looked with suspicion on all 
Roman Catholics, and their horror of them was so great that even 
Rhode Island enacted a law that a Roman Catholic should not be- 
come a free man of the province. 

We have so far only given a sketch of the atrocity of the times ; 
we will, before we conclude this chapter if there is room, give some 
more ; we could add many chapters of this kind of work, and what 
was it done for? 

I presume it will be called the conversion of the country ; conver- 
sion to what; to make this a Roman dependence, a colon}' of Catho- 
lics, under the tender mercies of such countries as France and Spain 
were in those days, and to destroy every vestige of God's children, 
who had made this a home, after being forced from their native soil 
by such cruelty too horrible to conceive, in this enlightened day? 

What should we have been as a nation if God had not put forth his 
hand and saved us from this peril? 

These nations had no love for us, they hated us and an\-thing they 
might have done at the time, or in later da3-s was not for love, but to 
injure and weaken Protestant England, and if she had lost her 
power, then the young colonies would have been at the tender mer- 
cies of these Pagan nations. 

Americans, just think of the fate of 3'our forefathers. Judging by 
the treatment the Protestant colony at Fort Carolina received at the 
hands of Melendez, the Spanish general, recorded in the first part of 
this chapter. 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 23 

Would the present race of Americans exist? You would have 
been destroyed before you were able to help yourself if God had not 
protected you, and the country would have been peopled by French 
and Spanish Romanists. 

In 1640, twenty years from the landing of the first Puritans, the 
population of New England had increased to 20,000 — a wonderful 
leap. 

They had been permitted to grow under Protestant influences, tor 
the Roman Catholic powers of Europe had so exhausted their re- 
sources that they could not much longer safely interfere with the 
American new settlements. 

Spain had ruined herself in many wars before the insane attempt 
to blot out Protestantism in England, by that scheme of the wicked 
pope, and carried out principall}' by Spain in the great Armada for 
the invasion of England, but its glory ended at the bottom of the 
ocean, and since that day 1588 Spain has had to take a back seat. 

The religious wars of France, England, Spain, Holland and 
others, kept them all jealous of each other. 

The revolution in England tied her hands, and the great fleet of 
England which was being constantly increased, was the protection of 
the early settlers, and so providence allowed the American colonists, 
amidst the clash of arms of Europe to live in peace, and gave them 
time, as well as the desire to improve themselves, temporally, mor- 
ally and religiously, and to lay the foundation of a future great 
country. 

And England although dictating to her young offspring as to her 
religious belief in the dogmas of the Church of England had not the 
time to enforce it. 

And so this Great Republic of the then future was nursed in the 
arms of providence, which seemed to say, "as I have laid the 
foundation, so do you tinish the structure, be careful not to allow 
an}' common material to be introduced, if you work on my pattern 



124 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALLT 

all will be well. I have with an outstretched hand saved vou from 
the peril of paganism ; follow in my steps and I will love you." 

The Puritans believed in material success, and as many of them 
were persons of education, they wished their children to enjoy the 
blessings of knowledge, so in 1637 ^ High school in Cambridge was 
established, which afterwards took the name of Harvard College, in 
gratitude to the Rev. John Harvard, of Charlestown, who gave a 
large library and half of his fortune. And in 1647 a general court 
ordered that in every town or district of fifty families, a common 
school should be built. 

This systein was soon approved by other New England Colonies, 
except Rhode Island. 

Thus came into existence the American system of common schools, 
but previous to this, the Protestant church had educated the young. 

Some had been educated by private individuals, but now it was 
handed over to the state. 

The church had alwa\ s made provisions for the preservation of the 
Gospel, and had installed its principles in the voung mind. 

The Puritans were not faultless, thev exhibited a wrong spirit in 
excluding other Protestant denominations, but put ourselves in their 
place, with the recollection of the horrors of a corrupt church govein- 
ing them and we might look on all new comers with as jealous an 
eye. 

They remembered how the tew schools in Europe, especialK' pre- 
vious to the reformation, had been prostituted to the purposes 
of this Roman church, and that made them doublv watchful. 

Put in this year i8go with a population according to the census, 
ol sixt}' millions, and with a yearly cost of over one hundred and 
twenty-two millions for the public schools, and requiring 347,292 
teachers, the figures stagger us. with twelve millions of children at 
the dailv attendance, and hundreds of thousand.s in private and 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 25 

sectarian schools, the question is do our children get as much 
religious education as the}' did when the Puritans first laid the 
foundation ? 

Have we not departed from the line intended by Him who so 
miraculously watched over our tender youth? 

Has not this old enem}- been tampering with our schools? Who 
first sugge>ted the thought of taking away the Bible? For what 
purpose are these sectarian schools? There is not an evangelical 
•church in the country but what is satisfied with the education of the 
state. 

Therefore the Roman church should not be allowed to have 
separate schools. 

x\nd we should be determined that all appropriations tor sectarian 
purposes be stopped. 

If the system of our schools suits the most intellectual in every re- 
spect, why should these others object? The fact is it makes 
children of such material that they become too enlightened for them 
to corrupt. 

At the head of this chapter it says: "righteousness exalteth a 
nation" ; then is this the best way to bring up these twelve rriillions 
of future men and women, to neglect the Bible? Should their young 
minds have even a suspicion that the Bible should not be respected? 

Take away the power from this socalled church that they have 
assumed in the political arena, and where would they be? Their 
vote is all the_\' can offer for all this disturbance of society, and that 
is prostituted to the furtherance of their designs. 

"Train up a child the way he should go, and when he is old he 
will not depart from it," is a good maxim ; the enemy adopts it. 
}ie trains up the poor dear little souls, so unfortunate as to get in 
his grasp, by refusing the Bible, and keeps back the only book that 
can instruct them in righteousness. 



126 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

It is evident, as God put his arms about this Great Republic in its 
infancy, and framed it out of his dear persecuted and hunted 
children, and took away the power for rule from the pagan countries 
and placed it in the care of a powerful Protestant nation until it was 
able to take care of itself. It must be therefore his intentions for it 
to go on, as it begun, training up the young mind and teaching it to 
respect the Bible. 

That good old book will injure none, and no one objects to it but 
those who teach antichrist doctrines, and we cannot afford, as a 
nation, to exchange our Bible for a few extra votes on election day, 
and those really given to the enem}^ of the book. 

God says, "I am a jealous God," and therefore he looks with a 
jealous eye on the treatment his book receives. 

There is a vast responsibility on our rulers, respecting the youth of 
the country. 

It may not be wise to imitat* the Puritans in all their methods of 
government, but we should unmistabably look with the same jealous 
eye on the introduction of an}'^ foreign sectarian element in our 
midst. 

The tact of their determination to open up separate schools i-s a 
menace to our Protestantism : it is the commencement of hostilities 
and if not stopped now it will take long years of blood and carnage 
to do it. 

The elements are amongst us, only waiting for the opportunity to 
enslave us. 

It may be sometimes wise to look even to pagan and despotic 
countries for advice, and see how they manage under such circum- 
stances. I do not say we can go to the lengths they have gone in 
this matter, still if it only sets us to thinking, it will be something 
gained. 

The Chinese have said firmly, "we will have nothing to do with 
you : depart from our shores. They f ave onh- crept in lately with 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 27 

the Gospel missionaries. Russia has also excluded the Romanists. 
The Greek and Roman church had the same origin, therefore the 
Russians know what a disturbing element popery is, and will not 
allow it entrance to their covintry ; there are a few exceptions. 

And is it not strange, Catholocism has less power to-day in all 
countries, than in the two great Protestant nations ; why can this be? 
I can make no better answer than the corruption of men in office, 
for outside of the Roman element, you hear nothing so much talked 
of as the fearful strides this Romanism is taking to-day. This 
country gives welcome to all nationalities, and it is time they should 
know it belongs to the Americans, and as they live here, they owe 
their allegiance first to the American government. 

Therefore we do not want the children, let them come from where 
they may, to be taught that a foreign power has the first claim on 
their loyalty. 

You could not get men to allow their children to be tampered 
with in their loyally to any government, except it be done under the 
disguise of religious fanaticism, and this Roman religion teaches its 
same old pernicious doctrine. That the Pope stands first and in 
what line he directs, they must follow. 

This is the greatest foe the American people have to deal with to- 
day, in our midst. 

They are becoming bolder every year. The people can know no- 
thing of their church's doings, or the}' would blush in the face of 
their abominable history to flaunt their baptized heathenism in the 
face of such facts as the world furnishes to-day. 

Can any one please give the name of any country, who has had 
the misfortune to have them amongst them, that they have not been 
expelled from? 

The countries of Europe have taken the schools from their hands ; 
to-day Germany, France, Italy and others, after centuries of bitter 



128 WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL? 

experience, have determined that the children shall be no longer 
subject altogether to the teachings of popery. 

The following from a European paper, speaks for itself: 
"In Roman Catholic Belgium there are, we are officially informed, 
i8 murders to 10,000 of the population, in France 31, Bavaria 32, 
Italy 52, in Protestant England 4. 

Illegitimate births, in Brussels 35 to 100, Paris 33, Vienna 52, 
England 5." 

The Westminster Gazette (Catholic) recently said, '"The neglected 
children of London are chiefly our children, and the lowest of every 
class, whether thieves or drunkards, are Catholics." 

Alexander VI, eleven years at the head of this so-called true 
church, gave a splendid entertainment to fifty public prostitutes, in 
the halls of the Holy Vatican, and to-day no caricatures are so 
much enjoyed in Rome as those at the expense of the priesthood ; 
no stories are too astounding to be believed, if against priests and 
cardinals ; no cry so frequent as this : "Down with the priests." 

As this pope is accidentally brought before us, and as we before 
said, we could give the history of all the Dopes, but the great objec- 
tion would be, they have lived such holy ( ?) lives that we could not 
soil our pages with the description. 

The above pope died August i8th, 1503, poisoned. We copy the 
last scene of thi? man's horrible end. Orgies, Debauchery, Simo- 
nies, robbery, murders and poisonings, are rife at this time : men 
are killed for pastime, but we give the following : 

"On the next day, when the death of the pontiff' was known, cries 
of gladness and transports ot joy resounded through Rome. 

Ever3-one wished to contem.plate the dead body of him who, for 
eleven 3'ears had caused the .most powerful lords to tremble ; the 
church of St. Peter in which his dead body was placed was soon in- 
vaded by an innumerable crowd. 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 29 

'The sight of that dead body', says Raphael Volatenan, 'black, de- 
formed, prodigiously swollen, and exhaling an infectious odor, was a 
disgusting spectacle, black froth covered his lips and nostrils ; his 
mouth was unnaturally open, and his tongue swollen by the poison, 
hung down upon his chin.' 

Thus there was not found any devotee or fanatic to kiss his feet or 
hands, as was the custom. 

Towards six o'clock in the evening the infection in the church 
v\^as such that the cardinal charged with the care of the funeral was 
obliged to give orders to bury the pope. No priest, cardinal or 
officer was willing to assist at the funeral ceremony, and the dead 
body was abandoned to the carpenters and porters, who placed it in 
a coffin which was too short, and into which they forced it by press- 
ing in the feet and striking it with a hammer. 

After this horrible scene of profanation, they cast it into a tomb 
which had been prepared for it on the left of the high alter. 

Thus terminated the abominable reign of Alexander VI, the last 
Pontiff of the Fifteenth Century. 

Alexander VI, is one of these popes whom the adorers of the 
Roman Purple, and'of pontifical infallibility, dare not justify, at least 
as regards their turpitudes ; they say however, that the reign of 
Roderick Borgia, was one of the happiest for the church, since 
Providence permitted neither schism nor heresies to appear during 
it. 

And if God has willed, they add, that there should sometimes ap- 
pear on the venerated chair of the apostle, incestuous, sodomite and 
murdering popes, it is to show men that the preservation of Catho- 
licism does not depend on the vices or virtues of its ministers ; a 
conclusion well worthy of those shameful priests who seek to cover 
their irregularities by contemptible sophisms. 

We, who deduct vigorous consequences from the truth of history, 
will say that an institution like that of the papacy is a monstrosity in 



130 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL ^ 

religion, precisely because it gives to wicked men an exorbitant 
power which permits them to employ for their passions, the greatest 
sublimity in the heart of man, the love of the Divinity-" (L. M. De 
Cormein History of the Popes, vol. 2, page 163.) 

The same impious idea is taught to-day, that it does not effect the 
church, let the priests socalled, be ever so bad, do we, or ought we 
to let the children of the states be brought up with such thoughts as 
these. We know it is taught, for we have heard it fr»m their poor 
deluded lips? 

"In 1872, Gavazzi, a reformed and converted Italian priest, in ad- 
dressing the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
at Brooklyn, New York, on the subject of reforming the papal 
•church, said she was 'too far gone in corruption ; she must die,' 
and added, 'if a finger, an arm or a leg is gangrened, amputation 
-of the affected part may save the body, but if the whole body is gan- 
grened there is no saving it ; it must die.' 

This is the case with the papacy ; it is gangrened to the core. 
If you take from it what is antichristian, there will be nothing left. 
This man was born in it, educated in it, had been a priest and knew 
what he was saying." (Key to the Apocalypse, page 130.) 

That the papacv is on the downhill grade is evident from several 
occurrences since 1866, and the Franco-German war. 

The dismembered states of Italy have become a united kingdom, 
depriving the pope of his temporal power which Pius IX said was 
essential to the existence of the papacy. 

The union o( church and state has so far subsided that the church 
has lost control over the state ; the common schools are taken from 
the control of the priests, and convents and nunneries valued at 
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been confiscated to the state, 
and a general system of education has been adopted on their avails. 

Austria, a Catholic state, has broken her concordant with the pope 
whereby he and his agents had control of all schools and of church 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 131 

affairs. Italy is thrown open to all shades of religion, and various 
Protestants have churches within the shadow of the Vatican. 

Spain, once famous for her papal inquisitions has been revolu- 
tionized, and now has a constitutional government, which, if carried 
out, must tolerate religion other than the papal. 

The Abbe Bougard, (Catholic) vicar-general of the Orleans 
diocese, (France) has recenth' published a little book, in which he 
calls attention to the diminution of the clergy in his church, and 
states some facts of a startling character to his cause, but consoling 
to the Protestants. 

He says, "there are already 2,658 parishes (in France) without 
priests, and 3,000 communes (towns) which have neither church, 
parson, nor chapel of ease, nor are these parishes and communes 
those in which Protestantism has obtained control ; on the contrary, 
they are those in which Romanists have always been dominant." 

The change is not confined to the parishes and communes re- 
presented in his statistics, but is more or less marked throughout the 
whole nation. The upper and lower classes are equall3' unwilling 
to enter the priesthood, and the aversion is apparently increasing. 

The abbe dates the beginning of the trouble a half century ago, 
and adds: "every revolution renews it; that of 1830 was fatal, the 
w/ar of 1870 was still more so ; what is true of France, the strongest 
Catholic State in Europe, is said to be true of every other Catholic 
power in this matter. 

The evangelical society of France in a circular, states that more 
than four millions of Bibles were sold among Catholics, besides 
those donated in France ; that more than six hundred thousand sol- 
diers have been thrown under Protestant influences ; that the nation 
is becoming awake to the fact that they cannot secure their liberties 
unless they break with popery altogether ; that seven millions of 
Roman Catholics have rejected popery ; that gifted men, by their 
writings show that France needs Protestantism. 



132 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Mr. Revielland thinks that in forty years, France will be Protes- 
tant ; the people listen to Protestant preaching and lectures with avid- 
ity, in thirty six thousand fownships." (Rev. Alfred Brunson, Ke}' 
to the Apocalypse, page 121.) 

We hear very little in our papers of such statements as the above, 
but a good deal of poor Old Ireland, whose greatest enemy is this 
so-called church, and she, Ireland, will never have rest or peace, do 
for her what vou may, until this element, which is constantly fom- 
enting her, is wiped out. 

As this Roman church has lost the control of schools in Europe, 
they now intend to get their grip on ours, that is if we let them. 

And one of the greatest pjoints for them is to control the press; 
they already seem to be able to publish statements very easily in the 
papers, but if w^e send anything that touches this so-called church 
very close, we are apt to receive for answer, "oh, we do not wish to 
get up a religious controversy." Let this speak for itself. 

They make the boast that they have representatives in all (he 
newspapers in England of any consequence, and add, "the}' do not 
so much care for what is put in as for what is kept out." And how 
frequently, when speaking of our public schools, they 'call them 
irreligious, infidel, godless, without Catholic instruction. What is 
our press about, to be publishing such nonsense. ? 

For those who are not aware of the spirit that is alread\' abroad, 
we clip a few extracts on the school question. 

A paper says, "The organization of the schools, their internal 
arrangement and management, the choice and regulation of studies 
and the selection, appointment and dismissal of teachers, belongs 
exclusively to the spiritual authority." 

The Boston xAdvertiser affirms, "Catholics would not be satisfied 
with the pubhc schools, even if the Protestant Bible and every ves- 
tige of religious teaching were banished from them." 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 33 

The Freeman's Journal of Dec. iith, 1869, speaks as follows: 
"Let the public scliool system go to where it came from — the devil. 
We want christian scliools, and the state cannot tell us what Christi- 
anity is." 

"Resolved, That the pubhc or common school system in New 
York City is a swindle on the people, an outrage on justice, a foul 
disgrace in matter of morals, and that it imports for the State Legis- 
lature to abolish it forthwith. 

There can be no sound Dolitical progress — no permanence in the 
state, where for any length of time children shall be trained in 
schools without (the Roman) religion. 

This country has no other hope, politically or morallv, except in 
the vast and controlling extension of the Catholic religion." (Popery 
the foe of the church, page 237.) 

Any amount of such statements could be given from pagan papers ; 
is it not wonderful that such absurdities can be printed in the face of 
the facts that are coming to light, of their expulsion from countries 
on whom they have acted like withering leeches for centuries? 

Brunson says, "About the year 1825, when emigration begun to 
set in from Europe to America on a large scale, the Catholic propa- 
ganda in Europe encouraged the emigration of their own people, 
with a view of their becoming voters, and when numerous enough 
to be felt, to sell their votes to the political party that would favor 
papacy the most, and thus get the control of our government in the 
interest of the papacy, as they then controlled in most of Europe. 

As it was a business mattt^r, a regular list of emigrants of those 
they claimed was kept." Brunson's Key to the Apocal3'pse. 

This so-called church, you see, is now as it always has been, a 
political machine calculating in advance for the spiritual ruin of the 
country ; the school is their aim, and they have paid tools, ready with 
slander as above, to attack any institution, however sacred, with vile 



134 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

opinions. We lately read of an attack, of another kind from a sup- 
posed higher quarter, beginning with hints, and covert sneers on the 
Puritans and Jewish religion, in the same spirit and for the same 
purpose, to raise themselves at the expense of others. They are 
constantly circulating irritating reports between the two great 
Protestant countries. 

When slanders are sent forth into the world through the press, or 
in any other form, unthinking people read and feel irritated, but 
seldom stop to inquire who are the originators ; when such inquiry is 
made, it is generally traced by intelligent men and women to one 
scource, namely, a foreign sectarian element, v\'ho are interested in 
these slanders ; it is one of their strong weapons. 

One writer who belongs to the Roman church, and is a supposed 
light in it, writing on the popular subject, the observance of the Sab- 
bath day, thinks a part only of Sunday should be devoted to 
religious worship, the rest to innocent and healthful recreation ; he 
thinks base ball is too violent an excercise for the proper observance 
of the Lord's day. 

"You must not," he says, "confound the christian Sunday with 
the Jewish or the Puritan Sabbath." "The Puritans," he sa3^s, "im- 
posed restraints which are repulsive to christian freedom, and which 
were not warranted by the Gospel dispensation." 

He adds, "the Lord's day to the christian heart is always a day 
of joy," and he tells us what the church (he means his church) 
allows on that day; one part is, "she permits a portion of it to be 
spent in innocent recreation ;" he then quotes that beautiful passage 
of our Saviour. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for 
the Sabbath." 

We are astonished at the arrogance of this man who brings the 
same paganism into this christian country that our forefathers left 
behind, and undertakes to give us instruction from his standpoint. 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 35 

To US it sounds like a resurrection : like a mournful dirge of the 
past. It reminds us of the day when such men as Huss or Jerome 
went before a popish tribunial and were told to surrunder or burn. 
"We want no argument," they said, "plead guilty ;" the spirit is 
the same. 

The church decides what 3'ou shall do and you have no appeal ; 
this was taking the usual high ground, especially towards the latter 
man, Jerome, whom thev had kept in a disgraceful dungeon for 
nearly a year amongst filth and stench ; so much so that some of his 
flesh rotted off his bod}-, and then when forced even in those days,^ 
to bring him forth to a hearing, tried to silence him with a yes or 
no, without the farce of a trial, and all because he was a good chris- 
tian. 

We dissent from allowing this church having anything to do with 
our Sabbath. God's word is our guide, and in it we read, "Remem- 
ber the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Would this man have us ex- 
change our Sabbath for one of his creating? Look at all the 
countries over which this popish religion has fastened her blighting 
grip. See the people's actions there ; go to church in the morning 
because you are ordered, bring your money with you, and then 
after that, you may go to cock-fights, bull-baits, gambling theatres, 
dog-fights, drunkeness, and any kind of wickedness, andwh}'? Be- 
cause the church allows it. 

Can any one think a church can be of God's planting that will 
tolerate and encourage such things? It is no use denying it ; it is a 
matter of history ; priests taking the money from the mornings col- 
lection plate, and afternoon gambling with it. 

If you say the church did not order these things, it only tolerated 
them, then we ask what good did you do all these centuries? 

Where is the righteousness you planted in the people and in the 
hearts of the dear children by such examples? 



136 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

And now, instead of taking counsel from you, we ask you to step 
aside, and not corrupt by your system tiie laws which Christ has 
given in the Bible, and which is our precious legacy. What has 
such countries as France gained by this? It has but one hope now, 
and that is Protestantism, to cleanse and purify it, and bring back 
the people from a state of Atheism and infidelit}', to true Christianity. 

Would not a Puritan Sunday, with all ot its stringent laws, pro- 
duce better results for us than the French and others have exper- 
ienced ? 

This subject, France refusing Protestantism, will be treated on in 
the next chapter. 

And what was the Jewish Sabbath before it was corrupted b}^ this 
same paganism? It and its laws were a type of the purer Christi- 
anity that Christ brought into the world. 

And now for the quotation trom the new testament — these people 
are always wrong in their interpretation of the Scriptures. You can 
hardly except anj'thing else from those who hate the Bible so, and 
would destroy it if they could. 

Christ is speaking of himself as being the Lord of the Sabbath. 
He and his deciples had been preaching on the Sunday to save men, 
and not for innocent recreation, and it would appear as if the}^ did 
not know where to get a meal, ("the}- were not pampered with the 
good things of life) but were glad to pick a few ears of corn to sus- 
tain nature ; but this did not please the Apostates of that da}' any 
more than it vvould to-day, and so they found fault with him, and 
thus the expression as given in Matthew. 

"For the son of man is Lord, even of the Sabbath day f a very 
different signification to what the above cardinal intended ; it does 
not give any encouragement to indulge the amusements allowed by 
this Roman church. 

And is it not certain, that as God so wonderfully protected this 
country in its infancy, snatching it out of the jaws of poperj^ and 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 37 

instructin.<y the young future Republic in the way of righteousness, 
and giving the blessings that true religion always brings peace and 
plenty? Then it remains for America to watch with a jealous care, 
that no false religion should seriously take root in this land, and also 
that the public schools be protected from the pernicious influences of 
priest-craft ; the makers of the constitution seemed impressed with 
this thought. 

And let us not insult God by letting the Bible take a second place 
anywhere, in or out of the school ; "he that honoreth me, him will I 
also honor," but if we forget him, he will hand us over to the tender 
mercies of these Philistines, who are mcreasing in the land. 

And then, judging from their past history, we can form a good 
idea of what our future will be, and how much blood and treasure it 
will cost to purify us as a nation from this abominable superstition 
which oiir enemies have determined to force on us. 

Let us lake warning from France and Spain and other countries, 
yes, and even Mexico, who have had to confiscate the church 
property for self defense. God offered these nations the true 
religion and they refused it, and what has it cost them in blood and 
treasure? Do not let us make the same mistake. If we do we shall 
regret it ; we are already reaping some if its fruits in the control of 
our elections. 

There is growing the spirit of lawlessness, unrighteousness, 
infidelity. Atheism, which always follows, and is created b}' idol- 
atrous worship. 

There is alreadv an unrest, a fear of comincj evil, bv the law 
abiding citizens, who are beginning to have a dread of the element 
they see increasing in their midst the same creatures as have always 
been used for violent work. 

Many of the pagan characteristics are coming to liijht. Boy- 
cotdng is one ; it is an old Roman Catholic weapon, used by them 
from their commencement, and is a Bible Prophecy. I think it has 



138 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

been given before in this book, but it will not harm to again bring it 
forward. See Revelations XIII, 17 : "And that no man might buy 
or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the 
number of his name." 

Some of our temperance lecturers say intemperance is worse than 
the old slavery. 

If we allow Catholicism to get ahead, it will be the worst of the 
three. 

My information is gathered from various sources, and I am told 
that in low society the protestant is already spoken of and to in such 
remarks as, ''oh, you are only a protestant pup," and in better 
society, the same meaning, only more refined language, the spirit of 
intimidation and fear is being scattered, and these things have 
alwa37s preceded in all countries the establishment of the reign of 
popery. Is this how Jesus laid the foundation of his church? 

Now, one more thought, and that will bring this chapter to an 
end. 

"And when they forgot the Lord their God, he sold them into the 
hand of Sisera, and into the hands of the Philistines." 

Many will say, what has the above to do with us; we, the great 
Republic? 

The writer thinks he can see a parallel case. The Jews were a 
favored people, and much land was given them. Thev had been 
brought with a high hand, out of the house of bondage, and 
were warned that their peace and prosperity depended on their faith- 
fulness to God ; in their keeping his commandments, and not to run 
after idols. 

They were warned first by Moses, then Joshua and others unti' 
the time of Samuel. 

Now as long as they served God they had rest from their enemies. 
They were told to "make no league with the enemies of God," 
(Judges II, 2) or it would be a snare to them. 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. 1 39 

"They would be as thorns in their sides" — and yet they did make 
league with the inhabitants of the land, and sought after their idols, 
hence God gave them over to the Philistines. 

They had always been a disobedient and stiff-necked people, and 
had been frequently punished, even to exile and captivity. 

Well, you say, what has all this to do with us? Let us see. All 
Scripture was given for our instruction, and the record of the Jews 
was intended as a guide to show us God's method of dealing with 
nations, even to the end of the world. 

Let us see where the parallel comes in. 

The Pilgrim fathers, like the children of Egypt had been redeemed 
from bondage — a bondage worse than Egyptian, for it was a deadly 
spiritual bondage, and this in merry free England. England had for 
a long time been made a hell by this Catholic power, until the people 
banished them from their land. 

The church was taken in hand by the king, but he, being no 
christian thought to run it in the old way, and that was not what the 
people wanted, and the}' having been so long in slavery, manv of 
them became despots themselves, and so not having lost the spirit of 
the old, they passed laws against those who had dissented from them, 
one of which was the nonconformist act which provided that all men 
should worship in the church of England. A large number could not 
conscientiously conform to this, and so they suffered great persecu- 
tions ; they therefore determined to leave their own land and seek a 
new, where they could serve God according to their conscience. 

They did not, like the Hebrews, go all at once, that was im- 
possible ; but they came by every available means, and in time 
swelled the number to a large extent. 

Now notice one of the parallels : The Hebrews had escaped across 
the Red Sea, the Pilgrims across the Atlantic ; God had granted 
both religious freedom. 



140 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

Who will say there is any life on earth better than that enjoyed by 
the Pilgrim fathers in their first years of occupation ? They had peace 
and plenty, and like the Jews were protected by God. But the 
Philistines followed them in the shape of the Romanists, and begun 
to introduce the forbidden idolatry ; they came over humble at first. 
No red hat cardinals. If they had done that methinks the spirit of 
some of the early settlers who remembered the old injuries, would 
have retaliated in some form, perhaps by showing them a short wa}- 
into the Atlantic. No, these only come after the ground has been 
well ploughed, and the seed sown ; they come to finish the work 
begun in pretended humilit}-, but they were looking to the future ; 
they calculated on supremacy from the start, and it was with them 
only a question of time before they would destroy this Garden of 
Eden. 

Christians as well as others, are naturall}^ unsuspecting, not plotting 
themselves, are not apt to see it in others, so they did not see the 
cloven foot in the way the politics and other things were being 
managed. The leaders of the parties did not themselves always 
see the cunning hand the)' were following, and so things went on 
apparently natural for a number of years ; one party in and then the 
other, still it was always shaping itself to the party that most 
favored the Catholics, and they were growing in strength until we 
now see both parties ; some unknowingly are playing into their 
hands ; and everv office is given to a Catholic if possible, and that is 
onl}' repeating the tactics that have alwa3's been adopted in ever}- 
country, previous to making a deadl}' attack on the lives and liberties 
of the people. Americans, Beware ! ! 

Have we not been tampering with their idolatry? In other words 
have been to careless how we allow our little children to be brought 
up in this irreligious church. I mean the children of the country ; 
we have an interest in them as well as our own, and the interpreta- 
tion of the words "Religious Freedom" does not give anybody a 



AMERICA AND THE PURITANS. T4I 

right to set up a religion in opposition to God, even if 3'ou bring it in 
with parades, military processions, expensive music from organs, oi" 
in any other form, to steal the senses and leave the heart dead. 

And now for a parting word in this chapter. If you do not stop 
these separate schools, these really ungodly schools, you, like the 
Jews, will be handed over to the Philistines. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 

"Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing. 

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together 

against the Lord, and his Anointed, saying: 
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in 

derision." Psalms II, 1-4 , 

THE latter part of the fifteenth, and the beginning of the six- 
teenth century, the two great events occurred, in the births 
of two great men. 

They were great in the true sense of the word, for thev were men 
of God. born so; these men seemed from their birth, to be out 
of their element but were seeking to find it. 

That element, so vital to them, and yet so rare in their earthlv 
surroundings. 

They walked like men blindfolded, feeling among the materials 
that came to hand, for what they were seeking, but could not recog- 
nize it; there was so much of the counterfeit, so little of the real, it 
withered in their hands and left their soul in an unsatisfied con- 
dition ; so much so that they almost despaired to find that which they 
were hungering tor, and after searching among the ashes until hope 
deferred, had made their hearts sick, they fed for a time on that 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. I43 

which was offered ; poor and scanty though it was, it was all that 
came within their reach, and so with patience, they looked forward 
for brighter days. 

It may not be necessary to say these men were looking for God 
but could not find him among the rubbish offered to seek in. 

They searched in all the books and went through all the empty 
forms prescribed by the only church within their reach, but no relief 
came. 

The only book that would have helped their case was withheld. 
These men were Luther and Calvin ; the former we have alread}- 
given a sketch of. 

John Calvin was born July lOth, 1509, at Noyon in Picardy, and 
at his birth Luther must have been twenty-six years of age ; like 
Luther, he was born of humble parents, but being an interesting 
youth, and remarkably clever and quick, and also under the gui- 
dance of providence, means were soon found to educate and prepare 
this future great man for his labors of love. 

There were a great many bright characters born at this time. 
The world had not so great a chance of throwing off' the chains of 
spiritual slavery since the apostolic period, and had the nations been 
equal to the occasion, many countries would not have had to go 
through such severe trials ; they could have reached the goal in an 
easier way. 

Calvin was to France what Luther was to German}' — the olive 
branch of peace, offered by the hand of God. Had France accepted 
the teachings of Calvin, their happiness and peace would have been 
assured, but when by persecution he. with many others, was driven 
away, the light of France was obscured, and left her to grovel for a 
few centuries amidst war, desolation and carnage of the most fright- 
ful character, and many times humbled in the eyes of tiie world, but 
we must not anticipate. 



144 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Our business in this chapter is more with France than with Calvin ; 
we may follow him elsewhere, but we will say he never found God till 
he found him through the Bible. Like Luther he was offered all the 
useless forms of the Roman church, which did him more harm than 
good, and when he saw men burned at the stake for having what his 
soul was longing after, although he knew it not at the time, still he 
felt these martyrs had an experience he had not got, and it set him 
to thinking, and he determined to search the forbidden Bible which 
privaie friends had advised him to do, and then he found the church 
he had so believed in was the real heretic, and these martyrs the 
true christians, and that the Bible was the only word of God. 

He found this church to be the greatest stumbling block in the ad- 
vancement of the cause of Christ ; it was a spurious institution, pre- 
tending to teach the way of God, but introducing in its place Anti- 
christ, or the doctrine of devils. 

Calvin, now about twenty years of age, tasted that for which he 
had been seeking for from his almost infancy ; he had at last found 
the true God ; he had not to wait until death, and after that go 
through punishment in purgatory, that he found to be all deception ; 
the invention of priests so-called, to make money by and to keep the 
people in awe so that they miglit rule them as they pleased ; he threw 
all this nonsense aside and stood up a free man, having the evidence 
within himself of his acceptance with God: his peace was made, his 
salvation assured, and his great heart pittied those who were still 
under the fetters of this Roman church. So he visiied from door to 
door with his Bible in his pocket, telling of the glorious liberty 
promised by Christ in his Gospel, and as realized in his own exper- 
ience. 

Paris was wonderfully favored at this time by the true piety of 
Margaret, the sister of the king, Francis I. 

The protestanism, as commenced in Germany by Luther, had 
reached France as well as all Christendom ; this Lady Margaret, 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 45 

Qiieen of Navarre, had also become a true christian, and the hour 
being favorable, she determined to have the Gospel of Christ 
preached in Paris. 

She wants the churches for preachmg, but is refused ; the Roman 
church although having lost much oi its power, had still enough left 
to close its doors against the word of God. 

She then determined to have the palace opened for divine service. 

Here was an innovation. France, one of the oldest sons of the 
church, opening its palace doors, that real religion should be offered 
to all ; this might seem to worldly hearts, a defiance to the pope, but 
such was not the greatest motive of the king's sister ; she did it for 
the love of God, and to save poor perishing souls, and also a great 
desire to make France Protestant. 

And had France been wise on this, the day of God's visitation, she 
would have embraced the opportunity. 

Had there been virtue enough in the land and a proper resistance 
made, the way would have been opened and the enemies of true 
religion banished, and France saved from the curse of the last three 
centuries. 

As it was, large numbers flocked to the palace every dav, and 
many were converted, still the largest numbers remained on the 
Roman side, and the church as usual, appeals to the only power she ■ 
really possesses — the brutal, ignorant and fanatical mob — and these 
urged on by the Romanists produce immense crowds, breathing rev- 
olutions, and the whole city was kept in great excitement by the 
unfounded rumors of plots which* were coined as usual by the priests. 

The good work went on, but it became at last evident ihat France 
was not ready for the reformation, and so man\- of tlu^ great 
preachers, with thousands of others, had to leave the counr\-, and 
persecution increased, but in a more deadly form. 

We here copy the case of Alexander, one great preaiher, and his 
end ; he was apprehended, escorted by Bowmen, and loaded with 
chains, he was sent to Paris. 



146 WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The guard soon saw that the prisoner they had in cliarge was Hke 
no other that had ever before been committed to their keeping. 
Before Paris was reached the captain of tlie company as well as 
several of the members had, as the result of their prisoner's conversa- 
tion with them, become converts to the Gospel. As he pursued his 
journey in bonds, Alexander preached at the inns and villages 
where they halted for ihe night ; at every stage of the way he left 
behind him trophies of the Protestant faith. 

The prisoner was comforted bv the thought that his master had 
turned the road to the stake into a missionary progress, and if in a 
few more days he should breath his last amid the flames, others 
would rise from his ashes to confess the truth, when he could no 
longer preach. 

Arrived in Paris, he was brought beforcs the Parliament. The 
prisoner meekly, yet courageously cont'essed the reformed faith. 

He was first cnielly tortured. Putting his limb in the boot, the 
•executioners drove in the wedges with such blows that his left leg 
was crushed. Alexander groaned aloud, "Oh, God," he exclaimed, 
says Crespin, "there is neither pity nor mercy in these men I oh, 
may I find both in thee!" '"Another blow," said the head execu- 
tioner. 

The martyr seeing Budeaus among the assessors, and turning on 
him a look of supplication, said: "Is there no great Gamaliel here 
to moderate the cruelty they are practicing on me?" Budeaus, great 
in the schools, but irresolute in matters of the Gospel, fixing an 
eye of pity on Alexander, said, "It is enough; his torture is too 
much, forbear." His words took effect. "The executioners," says 
Crespin, "lifted up the martyr and carried him to his dungeon, a 
cripple. He was condemned to be burned alive. 

In the hope of daunting him, his sentence, contrary to the then 
usual practice, was pronounced in his presence ; but they who 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. I47 

watched his face, instead of fear, saw a gleam of joy shoot at the 
instant athwart it. 

He was next made to undergo the ceremony of degradation. 
They shaved his crown, scraped his fingertips and tore off his robe. 
'If you speak a word' said they, 'we will cut out your tongue :' for 
about this time, according to Historian Crespin, this horrible bar- 
barity began to be practiced upon the confessors of the truth. Last 
of all they brought forth the robdefol. 

When Alexander saw himself about to be arrayed in this dress, he 
could not, says Crespin, refrain from speaking ; 'Oh, God,' said he, 
'is there any higher honor than to receive the livery which thy Son 
received in the hour of Herod?' 

The martyr was now attired for the fire unable 10 walk to the 
place of execution, for one of his legs had been sorely mangled in 
the boot ; the}' provided a cart, one usually employed to convex' rub- 
bish, and placed the martvr in it. 

iVs he passed along from the conceirgerie to the place Maubert, he 
managed to stand up, and resting his hands on the side of the cart, 
and leaning over he preached to the crowds that thronged the 
streets, commending to them the Saviour, for whom he was about to 
suffer, and exhorting them to flee from the wrath to come. 

The smile which his sentence had kindled on his face hid not 3'et 
gone off it, nay it appeared to glow and brighten the nearer he drew 
to the stake. 'He is going to be burned,' said the onlookers, 'and 
yet no one '-«ems so happy as he !' Being come to the place of exe- 
cution they lifted him out of the cart, placed him against the stake 
and bou"d him to it with chains. He begged before they should 
kindle the pile that he might be permitted to say a few more last 
w ord.« to the people. Leave was given, and breaking into an ecstasy, 
he again extolled the Saviour, for whom he was now to laj^ down his 
life, and again commended him to those around. 



148 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? > 

The spectators, amon<r whom was a goodly number of monks, 
said, 'Surely there is nothing worthy of death in this,, man,' and 
smiting on their breasts, and bewailing his fate with plentious tears 
exclaimed, 'If this man is not saved, who of the sons of men, can be 
so?' 

Well might the martyr, as he saw them weepipg, have said, 
'Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves.' A few .,sharp pangs 
and to him would come joy forever ; but for them alasj and for their 
children, the blood of the martyr and of thousands more who were 
yet to be slain was preparing a future dark with woes. 

Now that we find ourselves three hundred vears from these events 
and can look back on all that has come and gone in Paris since, 
we can clearly see that the year 1533 was one of the grand turning 
points in the history of France. Between the stake of Berguin and 
the stake of Alexander there were fully three years, during which 
the winds of persecution were holden. During at least two of these 
3'ears the Gospel was freely and faithfully preached in the capital. 

An influence from on high w^as plainly at work amongst the 
people. 

Five thousand men and women daily passed in at the gates of the 
Louvre to listen to Russel, and numerous churches throughout the 
citv were opened and filled with crowds that seemed to thirst for 
the water of life. Many felt the powers of the world to come. 

In these events Providence put it distinctly to the inhabitants of 
Paris. 'Choose ye thits day, whom ve shall serve. Will ve abide 
bv the papac}- or will ye cast in your lot with the Retormation.' 
And the men of Paris as distinctl}- replied, when the perijd of pro- 
bation had come to an end 'We will abide by the pope.' The choice 
of Paris was the choice of France. Scarcely were the flames 
of Alexander's pile extinguished when the sky of that country, 
wiiich was kindling apace as the friends of truth fondly thought 
with the glories of the opening day, became suddenh' overcast^ 



FRANX'E REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 49 

and clouds of threatening blackness began to gather. In the spring 
of 1534 the churclies of Paris were closed ; the sermons were 
suppressed ; three hundred Lutherans were swept oft' to prison, 
and soon thereafter the burning resumed. But the ominous cir- 
cumstance was that the per.-^cecutor was backed by the populace. 
Qiieen Margaret's attempt to win over the population of the capi- 
tal to the Gospel had proved a failure, and the consequence was 
that the Sorbonne, with the help of the popular suffrage again set up 
the stake." Rev. J. A. Wylie, His. of Protest., vol. II page 172, 
173 and 174. 

These executions were the answer of Paris to God's offer of mercy, 
and the brutal executioners were again supported by the no less bru- 
tal mob, and so France fell again into the hands of Rome and went 
back to the food she gives with its attendant festivals, with their ob- 
scene and guilty performances. 

This was all Rome had to offer in exchange for the Gospel, which 
she was trving by the torch, and other means to destroy. 

The king Francis I, bent on his own schemes of greatness, had 
seen his sister at her noble work with an indifference to the results, 
excepting as it gratified him in playing the Protestant party as a set 
oft' against his rival Charles V, and also the pope. He allied him- 
self to the pope with one hand and to the Protestant princes of Eu- 
rope with the oiher, and entertained the idea to unite the Catholic 
party with the Protestant. You might as well attempt to unite 
heaven and hell, or oil with water as Christianity with paganism ; 
they can never amalgamate. 

The powers of Europe were as usual, checkmating each other in 
diplomatic skill, pope Clement VII had just had an interview with 
Charles of Spain at Bologna. 

The king of France was aware of this, and thinking some scheme 
WT)uld be set afloat against his interests, thought to checkmate it 



150 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

whatever it may be, by detaching the pope from Spain and securing 
him as an ally for France. 

What power suggested this to the king? No one knows ; he may 
have thought it was the coinage of his own brain, his own diplomatic 
skill : it may have been suggested by the powers of darkness. But 
come from where it may, it meant no good for France. 

It seemed as if the angel of mercy had left her to her own plans and 
resources, and that in exchange for the virtuous and christian sister 
of the king. A spawn of a different brood should fasten her fangs 
on the nation ; one that shall be a curse for France for a long time to 
come. 

And it came like the serpent in the Garden of Eden : not in a repul- 
sive shape, but in the last form we should conceive harm 
should spring from ; in the person of a lovely, smiling, gay and 
happy girl, from the sunn\- clime of Italy, just entering into her four- 
teenth birthday. 

This girl, young as she was, accustomed to the criminal society of 
the Vatican, and being a niece of the pope, was at her early life initi- 
ated, into the most infamous debauches. 

It is said the pope was not really her uncle, he being a bastard of 
the Medici family. 

The thought or plot the king just mentioned was to introduce this 
young lady into his family b}' the offer of marriage to his second sO'n, 
the Diike of Orleans, the future king Henry II, and so break the 
alliance of the pope with Charles V. 

The name of this lady was Catherine de Medici, and he wrote to 
the pope making the offer, which was eagerly accepted, and after all 
matters were arranged, the pope left Rome for France, to be present 
at the wedding, 1533. 

Here was a change for France ; in a few vears the country \Aould 
lose the present powers by death, and then it would fall into the 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 151 

rulei'ship of this most infamous woman, as she afterwards proved her- 
self to be. 

She was a great schemer, and whosoever mounted the throne, her 
husband or sons, she would be the leading spirit. 

The black and dark history that followed, the poisonings, the dun- 
geon, the stake to friends or foes, proceeded from her, and in those 
days crowned heads threw ofl'all responsibility. There was none to 
call them to account, and as she was so closely allied to Rome and 
its pretended holiness, she could commit any crime with impunity. 

The pope, before he left France, gave his blessing to his hopeful 
niece and her husband, and did not forget to leave a bull of Anathe- 
ma against all Lutherans. 

This lady was the curse of the kingdom as well as the royal family. 
She smiled and was cheerful and gay, but a blight seemed to follow 
her, and she turned everything into evil. 

We might interpret her presence by the words, "As you sow, so 
shall 3'ou reap." 

You would have none of mine for your guide, now take one of 
your own choosing, and those that follow her, and it shall be the 
more bitter, because it comes from the great house of bondage, the 
head of your idolatrj^. 

And it seems strange that on the chosen of God should her wrath 
be permitted to fall, but we must not judge b}' earthly things ; there 
is a day coming when all these things will be judged by one who 
cannot err; then their sorrow will be turned into joy, and these au- 
thors of earth's miseries will receive their just reward. We here 
give an extract of a small part of a conversation between the worth)- 
pope Clement VII, and the emperor Charles V. 

In the hrst interview the prince spoke of the necessity of assemb- 
ling a general council in Germany, to arrest the progress of the her- 
esy by regulating the connection of the churches of that country with 
the Holy see, and to reform the morals of the clergy. 



152 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

'Never!' replied the pope, 'will we convene a synod in a place 
where its deliberations can be independent. And we are surprised 
that a prince, who is so wary and great a politician, solicits an as- 
semblage whose decisions may at once break his throne and over- 
throw the papacy. We call you emperor and ourselves pope ; b}' 
divine right, we should not then submit the examination of our pri- 
vileges to men, for they may ask us to verify our titles, and in truth, 
neither 3'ou nor I can do it. 

Be assured that the electors and people of Germany have only 
embraced the heresy to seize on the ecclesiastical property placed 
under your sway, and then to free themselves from j-our dominion. 
It is not the excellency of the new religion which attracts them to 
the party of the reformation, it is an ardent thirst for liberty. Do 
not then hope to arrest the disorders by permitting the Lutherans to 
discuss the new doctrines in a council. 

What matter these dogmas to us alter all : what we want is passive 
obedience ; what we ought to desire is, that the people should be 
forever submissive to the yoke of priests and kings ; and to reach 
this end, to prevent revolts, to arrest these flashes ot liberty which 
overthrow our thrones, we must use brute force ; make executioners 
of your soldiers; we must light the funeral pyres; we must kill, 
burn ; we must exterminate the learned ; we must annihilate the 
press. Be assured then, that your subjects will return to 
orthodoxy, and will adore your imperial majesty on their knees.' " 
L. M. DeCormein, His. of Popes, Vol. II, pages 199, 200. 

These representations ol Clement appeared to strike the Emperor, 
and the question of the council was abandoned. The}' agreed only 
to assemble at Augsburg, a general diet of the empire, in order to 
make a last effort to re-unite the Roman Catholics and Lutherans, 
at which place was Luther cited. 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 53 

The Pontiff' then proceeded to the coronation of Charles V, and 
immediately afterwards the two allies marched on Florence to re- 
duce the republic beneath the tyranny ot the bastard of Medicis. 

'Tis not often we can lift the scenes and hear the real sentiments 
of kings, emperors and popes: ever3'thing that comes to the surface 
is so artificial ; it sometimes has the appearance of truth, and yet 
diplomacy is often a language studied to conceal the real sentiments. 
It breathes the word of promise to our ears, but breaks it to our 
hopes. 

A volume might be written on the above conversation. It shows 
the opinion these worthys have regarding the race of men, in what 
light they view them and the use they have for them, namely to 
cater to their greatness. 

We pronounce such men as unfit to breath the pure air of heaven ; 
one of these is called a pope, pretending to look after the spiritual 
happiness of Christendom ; in our eyes he is an imposter, and his 
language proves he knows his position is a sham, a cheat, and that 
his pretended connection with Christianity would and does not bear 
investigation ; hence his objection to a general council, composed of 
such men as would then come forward to speak on this subject. All 
cliurch disputes were usualh' tried by the pope's tools, so that the 
verdict is agreed on before the court meets : composed of bishops 
and priests. 

To such councils they are willing to entrust their cause, but when 
intelligent and honest men meet to settle the abuses of this socalled 
church then they fall back on brute force, and have no answer but 
to kill, burn, as the above socalled shepherd of Christ's flock recom- 
mends ; he wishes particularly to destroy the learned ; he fears 
them ; they may ask unpleasant questions ; "where do you get your 
power from," and who placed a king, emperor, and particularly a 
pope, on the throne b}' divine right. 



154 WHY HAVE PKIESTS AT ALL? 

And how he judges these honest men by his own wicked standard ; 
he cannot conceive men act from principle ; we will not say the love 
of God, for what does he know about that? 

His object is to make men base by fear, to prevent their reading 
or learning, to be kept in the same ignorance he and his prede- 
cessors have forced on the masses these long dark centuries. 

All the use these heads can find for the people is to cater to their 
pleasures ; to find the means to perpetuate their wicked lives. 

To annihilate the press ; as if God had only just sent that blessing 
for them to extinguish and not to carrv out his own glorious work 
and purposes, and which was now showing up their ghostly deeds." 
'r Such was the conversation of this worthv pair, and it must have 
given them a further taste for blood, for they both started with the 
army to Florence, beseiging them, and got possession by false 
promises, and then began the torture of the Florentines as soon as 
they were in their power. Oh, that the earth mav be soon rid of 
such evil agitators. Had we space to give the history of the life of 
this socalled vicegerant of Christ, it would fill a whole chapter, but 
it is too disgusting to publish his infallible deeds ; the knowledge of 
these facts has made us give the title to our book, "Why Have 
Priest at All?" 

The king of Franco also tried his plan of reforming the church of 

ome, but without an}' reformation ; he cared nothing for the church 
of Rome excepting as a means to help him into power ; he cared 
less for Protestantism, still if he could heal the difference it would 
make him the first man in Europe. Plans were suggested, councils 
held, but nothin*'' could be decided on ; how could reforms come 
from councils of priests. To reform the church of Rome is to stop 
the high living of priests and cardinals, to bring the pope into a state 
of humility, real or feigned, just as easy turn the devil into a saint, 
but as long as the king held the hands of the executioners, so long 



FRA.NX'E REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 55 

would the tire and hatred against tlie protestants smoulder in France ; 
great pressure was no doubt brought to bear on him privately, who 
knows what influence Catherine de Medici was having on him? but 
something might happen to change the king's leniency towards the 
Protestants, and such a circumstances did arise. 
A paper written in Switzerland, headed : 

"True articles on the horrible, great and intolerable abuses of the 
popish mass ; invented in direct opposition to the holy supper of our 
Lord and only mediator and Saviour Jesus Christ." Then it goes 
on to relate the writers opinion. 

This was posted all over France, and in one night, and caused 
great commotion. One was posted on the door of the king's place, 
and on its being shown to him, and its contents read and commented 
on by a cardinal, he went into a great rage and ordered that all be 
seized, and Lutheranism be exterminated. 

Then began the wholesale arrest of Protestants and their tami- 
lies. 

There is no one knows better than priests how to work on weak, 
ignorant, fanatical and superstitious minds ; this was an opportunity 
that must be improved while the king was in earnest ; and so they 
worked on the mob, fanning them into a fury. 

They begun with a slow procession of friars and priests, bearing 
the host. 

Also a good crowd of incense bearers and hymning choristers, 
and all pretending to do penance for the aftront to the holy sacra- 
ments. 

The king had commanded his lieutenant criminal, Jean Morrin, to 
arrest all that were suspected of the business of the placards : he lost 
no time, but went with the procession of priests, having with him a 
man whose life was threatened if he did not point out the homes ot 
the reformers ; in this way numbers were taken to prison. 



156 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The priests raised reports uf conspiracies bv the protestants : the\' 
were going to burn all tlie public buildings and murder all the 
Catholics; the king was to be put to death, the monarchy destroyed, 
and so many other falsehoods to excite the vengeance of the mob, 
until the cry was heard, 'Death, death to the heretics I " The scaf- 
folds were being erected all over Paris and the victims were brought 
out ; some were burnt over slow tires to increase tiieir tortures : one 
had his arm chopped off in public before burning; one man, a 
brickla3'er named Poille, was brought to the scaffold, and he said, 
'My Lord, Jesus Chiist, reigns in heaven, and I am ready to fight 
for him to the last drop of my blood.' 

'•This," sa3's Daubique, quoting Crespin's description, -'exasper- 
ated the executioners. 
. 'Wait a bit,' they said, 'we will stop 3'our prating.' 

They sprang upon him, opened his mouth, caught hold of his 
tongue and bored a hole through it ; they then, with refined cruelty, 
made a slit in his cheek and fastened it with an iron pin. Some 
cries were heard from the crowd at this most horrible spectacle ; they 
procet-ded from the humble christians, who had come to help the 
poor brickla3'er with their compassionate looks. Poille spoke no 
more, but his eve still antunced the peace he enjo3'ed ; he was burnt 
alive." Rev. J. A. Wylie, His. of Protestantism, vol. II, page 210 
and 211. 

The king had passed the barrier, he had given the word and 
could not retract, and the nation backed him up in the words and 
deeds. The priests urging them on to tiuy. The suicidal policy of 
robbing France of her best citizens by flight and murder went on 
every day and the stake was fed by fresh victims. 

Margaret, the king's sister, was hated by the enemies of the Gos- 
pel, and she did not know but that her turn might come next; the 
hatred and bisfotiy of the Roman church increased. 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 157- 

The priests persuaded the king that public expiation must be done 
fur insulting the holy mass. 

France must be purged to this heresy ; and they persuaded him to 
join in a public procession, which took place on the 21st day of Janu- 
"^'"^'i 1535- This day has been since a remarkable one in French 
histor}^ for the horrible butcheries at that time and for its absurd 
devotions. 

Paris was full from all parts of the country. The king went with 
a large procession of priests, ca-rdinals, old bones called relics, sup- 
posed by the ignorant to have grown on the bodies of saints, but 
more likely to have been furnished by some animal. 

We do not speak this unadvisedly, but could, if we had space, give 
very interesting accounts of the purchase of animals' bones and sold 
by these priests as relics of saints. 

And as far as any good could come, the one is as effectual as the 
other. 

And now came the host carried by the bishop of Paris, under a 
grand canopy supported by four princes of the blood. 

This procession went to the church of Notre Dame ; here the king 
made a grand moral speech, thanking God for his goodness to 
France, and making fresh promises to cleanse her from heresy ; 
even if it was his own children, the excitement ran high and the 
spectators exclaimed, "we will live and die for the Catholic religion." 
■ And after this useless burlesque, France was saved ; at least the 
priests told the king so, and away they went with more religion to 
witness the most horrible cruelty in the line of procession in the 
roasting of people at different places; the king and his suit made a 
halt to see men hung on pulleys and let down into the fire, to ""et 
roasted, and then drawn up again to prolong their sufferings, and 
this seemed perfectly in order ; they were only heretics, and had 
they not come fresh from holy mother church, this ver}'. verv merci- 



158 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

ful Lady? And therefore their hearts must have no pitv, but rather 
enjoy the torture of these detested Protestants, and so the}- added 
their curses to the dying agonies. 

It is said the king made his speech at Notre Dame with tears, and 
the muhitude also wept; can any one tell how this is produced? 
there seems something unnatural about it. It is understood by some 
at least, how a congregation, whose hearts are breathing love and 
good will to all the world, and also having God with them, can shed 
tears of joy. But here is a people whose hearts are full of hatred, 
breathing murder and making a fresh compact with the enemy of 
mankind to exterminate those whom they so hate ; surely the devil 
is a wonderful counterfeit, and can reproduce an}^ feelings he choses 
in his disciples. The socalled priests helped this greatly, this was to 
them an important occasion, so they made one of their best per- 
formances. 

And so these burnings went on as long as victims could be found, 
when one of the chief authors of this wickedness was called to his 
account in the person of the king; his death occured March 31, 

1547- 
• He did not die as his victims had, by the hands of the brutal ex- 
ecutioner, but in his own bed, where ever_y luxury could be found, 
and being the eldest son of this most holy church, of course his end 
would be happy; there are man}^ in his room, 'tis true, ready to 
transfer their allegiance to the next in succession, but s-till they pay 
him deference. 

We have read ol men dj'ing at the stake, with their limbs being 
burned oft' one by one, but still with happ}' countenances, joy 
springing up in their hearts. A love within, supei'ior to all earthly 
woes. Witness the execution just described of Poille. Surely if 
heretics die that way, this faithful son of the church would have a 
better end ; seeing there is so much consolation in this church ; they 
have so much power with heaven, at least they say so, and do exact 



p-RANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 59 

fees from the birth to the grave for the privilege of the dying hour ; 
so all will go well with this king who has been simply slaughtering 
people at wholesale because they were not so good as himself; but 
let us take a peep. 

There he is, Wh}' ! he does not seem so happy as the men he has 
murdered did in their last moments. See ! his face has a troubled 
look ; do you hear? He groans ; his soul is in great trouble ; he has 
nervous starts : he sees something that frightens him ; notice how he 
shrinks from it ; oh ! what a horrible expression came over his face 
then; now he trembles from head to foot ; he wants relief; that of 
course he can easily have, the bishop and some priests are here, and 
as they can do such wonders with heaven and hell, the3^ can soon 
comfort him. Where is the flour God? the last sacrament of this 
most holy church. Oh, there it is, he now takes it from the hands 
of the bishop ; now he w^ill be all ri^ht, it does not matter how he 
has lived, how he has made war with God's saints and prevailed, the 
hollow forms of popery will fix him all right. 

Oh ! you blind leaders of the blind ! this is a little beyond your art. 
The executioner's fire comes to an end, but a never-d3nng fire has 
just begun in his soul, and some of the roasted victims whose ashes 
were sent down the river are perhaps standing before him, and will 
hunt him forever. Hvish ! wait ; he is going to speak. What does 
he say? he says that it is not he who is to blame ; his orders were 
exceeded. Oh ! then there is the trouble : these heretics are some- 
thing more than you supposed ; you have had your time, now it is 
theirs ; they are at peace, perhaps you can see them as the rich man 
Jesus told us of in the forbidden Bible saw Lazurus in Abraham's 
bosom. 

And now at the last moment, conscience, the voice of God speaks ; 
and in a different tone to what it formerly did ; it ma}- now speak in 
tones of thunder, and none to hear but himself. Very different from 



l6o WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

when these fawning priests were smiHng approval and urging liim 
to evil in his day of power ; then conscience was chained, but now 
it rises as a powerful witness forever. 

But we must leave him ; we have gone as far as we can, and will 
not attempt to describe the screams, the wailings, the horrors of the 
scene, but there stands around his bed, the tempter in human form 
dressed in his robes, the representatives of this socalled church, not 
with any pity for their victim, only waiting to see that he does not 
say anything to compromise their system, and for the breath to leave 
his body, and then to go and secure new victims as they did the 
dying king. They have lured him on to the last moment, and are 
impatient to leave him. Yes, to leave him all alone with the great 
Judge, to answer for the deeds done in the bod}^ ; to go before that 
Jesus of Nazareth whom he, with all the power of France, has been 
prosecuting in the persons of his disciples, "inasmuch as you have 
done it to the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me." 

And Mr. Priest, socalled, will 3^ou not take warning from such 
cases as these and stop before it is too late? Stop making any more 
victims; take your hands oft' the dear little children just come from 
their maker's hands, pure and happy. Oh, you ma}- riot in luxury 
for a little while, but death will claim you soon, and then when the 
facts Hash before your eyes, now that not entering into the kingdom 
vourselves you have been the means of keeping others out, we must 
draw the curtain ; we do not profess like you, to be the master of the 
future. 

Here was the earthly end of this king who, if he luid not been 
lead away by this farce of a religion, and had not been influenced by 
these worldly priests, had he taken the council of God instead, alone 
in his closet, his eyes would have been opened ; then he might have 
given liis power to the protestants ; it would have enriched France 
and made him one of the greatest men in the world. Everything 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. l6l 

was favorable for this. He could have allied himself with the Ger- 
man protestants, also with England, Holland and others. God's 
power would have been on his side, and the nation would have 
blessed his memory, instead of which, he leaves a daughter-in-law 
as a skeleton to the nation, and soon to be in power, with her evil 
councils, and to begin this horrid work over again, only with greater 
vengeance. 

And all that remains to the friends of this king is the poor satis- 
faction of lying in state and having friars offering fresh blasphemies 
by continually singing masses and dirges, with wax tapers day and 
night, until his body was hid away, and this for the benefit of his 
departed soul. Too late I too late ! ! 

The more we search into the history of the past, the more we are 
astonished at the slavery of men to this ecclesiastical tyranny ; 
having ourselves been free from birth by the kind hand of providence, 
we wonder how a few families holding the reins of power can con- 
trol the rest of the country to their harm and wretchedness ; it was 
so in France. 

Francis I is gone, Henry H takes his place, with Catherine de 
Medici as his wife ; does the troubled conscience of the late king- 
create an^' desire for repentance on the new? It seems not; in fact 
repentance has been changed to penance. He and his wife, with 
those around them, seem as if in a dream ; they cannot see the dan- 
gerous rock before them, or the rivers of blood they must wade 
tlirough ; they mistake Iriends for enemies and the reverse ; bad for 
good and good for bad. Paul understood this case when he said in 
H Thessalonians H 11-12, "And for this cause God shall send them 
strong delusions, that they shall believe a lie. That the}' all might 
be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unright- 
eousness." 

This profligate king, with his wife, reared amongst that mixture 
of infidelity, fanaticism and superstition at the Vatican, have such 



l62 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

lofty ideas of themselves that the rest of the nation are only to mjve, 
as they wish when we smile you mav smile, or if we frown stand 
abashed ; you are as the dust under our feet. 

It seems on the present occasion, like this : 

We are going to furnish you with an entertainment at your ex- 
pense. We have most of the horses and carriages; ^'ou can walk or 
stand as you look on ; vou can show your servile spirit in cheering 
us as we throw 3'ou a tew smiles, and in return, we will show our 
general appreciation of you by hanging and roasting a few of you 
on our line of procession ; 'tis true these are only heretics, but if j-ou 
all had retained that manly spirit God gave you before you became 
slaves to these priests, we should not dare to harm a hair of one of 
your heads ; as it is, you are only fit to occasionally atibrd us amuse- 
ment." 

The occasion referred to was the coronation of the queen, and 
several victims were selected as lambs for the slaughter ; of course 
they must have been great criminals, the\' were I the greatest I 
What could their crime be? Do tell me. Well, one actually ate 
meat on Friday. Could anyone be so vile? One was a tailor, and 
spoke the most sensible words to the king's mistress she ever heard, 
and this in the king's eyes onlv fit for death ; he told her before the 
king she was mingling her venom and filth in a matter altogether too 
holy and sacred, as is the religion and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
What an awful crime. Another sold some religious tracts or books ; 
sacriligious ! The others, but we ought not to publish such crimes, the 
men must die in torments to grace the coronation fetes. 

When the day of execution came, July 14th, 1549, the king bade a 
window, overlooking a pile to be prepared, that he might see the 
man who had had the audacit}- to insult his favorite, slowly consum- 
ing in the fire. 

Both parties had now taken their places ; the tailor burning at the 
stake, the king reposing luxuriousl}' at the window, and Diana of 
Poictiers seated in haughty triumph by his side. 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 163 

The martyr looked up to the window where the king was seated 
and fixed his eyes on Henry. 

From the midst of the flames that eye looked forth with calm 
steady gaze upon the king. The eye of the monarch quailed before 
that of the burning man. 

He turned away to avoid it, but again his glance wandered back 
to the stake. The flames were still blazing around the martyr — his 
limbs were dropping oft"; his face was growing fearfully livid, but 
his eye, unchanged, was still looking at the king, and the king felt 
as if it was chan^incr him into stone. The execution was at an end ; 
not so the terror of the king. The tragedy of the day was reacted 
in the dreams of the night. 

The terrible apparition arose before Henr}^ in his sleep. There 
again was the blazing pile, there was the martyr burning in the fire, 
and there was the eye looking forth upon him from the midst of the 
flames. For several successive nights was the king scared by this 
terrible vision. He resolved, nay, he even took an oath, that never 
again would he be witness to the burning of a heretic." Wylie, His. 
of Protestantism, vol. H, page 519. 

"Historians say whatever was done, the king's wife was the leading 
spirit; these horrid murders in the name of God were done all over 
the. country ; martyrs everywhere, and yet, strange, the more the}' 
murdered the faster they increased ; their blood was the seed of the 
church. 

One man, Florent Venot of Sedan, was tormented for four years 
in diff"erent prisons, and at last brought to Paris, and there put in a 
hole where he could not lie, stand or move about, amidst filth too 
horrid to mention, and lived in that condition for six weeks ; other 
christians had been there before, but none more than fifteen days 
without loosing reason or life ; he was burnt alive, and because he 
would sing they cut his tongue out, and after that he expressed 
by signs, great joy." Wylie, His. of Protestantism, vol. H, page 
520. 



164 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The king's taste for blood increased until one day he was called 
to his account ; about ten years from the execution of the tailor, by 
an accident of tilting in the lists, in mimic warfare, which mortally 
wounded him ; so he died a few weeks after, on the lOth da}- of 
July, 1559, ^t the age of 41. 

The work of christianit}^ spread more and more, the Bible was 
introduced in families by the means of Colporteurs, and in 1560 the 
Protestants had between one and two thousand congregations in 
France. 

The pope and other Romans looked on with wonder as well as 
terror to see this great increase after all the losses from deaths. 

One would have thought it would have opened the Romanists' 
eyes, but spiritual blindness had fallen on them, so that seeing, they 
could not see, and hearing thev could not hear or perceive. Several 
political parties had sprung up since the death of Francis I. The 
greatest was the family of the Guises. 

The Queen's eldest son was now on the throne, as Francis II — a 
boy of sixteen, weak minded, and under the rule of his mother, 
Catherine de Medici ; this was not promising for the protestant cause. 

The two Guises, brothers, one a cardinal, the other held the com- 
mand of the army, and the government was divided : the 3-oung 
king, a puppet in their hands, was virtually a prisoner under his 
mother's superintendence ; no one could approach him except 
through their medium ; with such a part}' at the head of the govern- 
ment, and being continually urged by the pope to exterminate the 
Protestants, no wondert heir fury knew no bounds. Anathemas and 
excommunications were from the pulpits continually, and the lieu- 
tenant criminal had a personal power given him to destroy all 
brought before him without appeal. 

The Protestants hoping some relief might come if they wrote to 
the Qiieen mother, they did so ; their peaceful efforts were inter- 
preted into a threat, so all hope was cut oft' and now these demons 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 65 

in human form went forth like a lighting storm, carr3'ing destruction 
before them ; every place where a Protestant was thought to be was 
invaded ; everything confiscated belonging to them ; the plunder 
being one of their greatest motive powers ; soldiers taking persons of 
all ages and sexes to prison ; dear little children starving in the 
streets, their natural protectors taken from them and shut up in 
prison. Paris looked like a city that had been visited by a conquer- 
ing army. 

The priests did what they always have done, what they always 
will do, and what they are doing to-day. Circulating lying repo.rts 
about the christians, onl}' just now not in so open a way ; they sent 
up the fury of the people to such a height of hatred that no one was 
safe a moment ; if only a finger was raised against them they w^ere 
either killed on the spot or dragged to prison to be executed as soon 
as possible ; prisons were no sooner filled than emptied by these 
murderers ; a reign of terror existed ; in many cases pagans as well 
as christians suffered for the slighest suspicion ; no one was safe, 
except the most rabid and daring Catholics and the brutal mob. 

Had the Protestants only suffered, things might have gone as they 
were much longer, but the party that helped to raise the storm now 
began to talk, since they were included in the general wreck. 

This was the commencement of what was know^n as the conspiracy 
of Amboise. 

The people determined to raise an army and seize the young king 
whom they saw was kept a prisoner, and destroy the party usurping 
the government ; but their intentions being discovered, the Guises 
had him removed to the strong castle of Amboise. 

The insurgents followed, but were taken in a trap and a general 
execution begun, which continued nearly four weeks, the blood of 
the victims filling the gutters ; this took place'in view of the windows 
of the palace, the king and the household looking on ; over a 
thousand were executed, until the executioners were tired. 



l66 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

As the work did not go on fast enough, they tied the prisoners 
hand and feet and threw them into the Loire, and their bodies went 
floating away. Poor France suffered this because some of the best 
citizens wished to reform the countr\' from the pestilence of popery 
that had fastened itself upon its neck and was sucking its life blood, 
but for the present they must suffer. The offer of repentance had 
been made and refused, and now you must w'ait until the next day of 
visitation is made, when perhaps \ our e\es will be opened and vou 
will make a different selection. 

Another change takes place, in the death of the young king, at 
the age of 17, on December 5, 1560, and everyone is so busied with 
their own aff"airs that a decent funeral is not even given ; he was put 
away more like a pauper than a king. 

Charles IX, now occupies the throne at the age of nine years. It 
puts the government more in the hands of his mother Catherine 
De Medici, and she, in order to carrv her point, pretends to listen to 
the Huguenots — the name the Protestants had been given. 

We have seen too much even in our day of this Jesuitical spirit of 
pretence. 

She listened to the sermons with some of her household but her 
heart was keeping up the Roman doctrine that any means was law- 
ful by which vou can deceive a heretic. 

Still it gave time to the Protestants to take deeper root. It also 
had the advantage of a council being called at Poissv, or a Colloquy, 
as the priests called it : what infatuation, not allowing the Protestants 
to meet on equal terms. 

The Protestants gained with the public, even in this one sided 
meeting. The Romanists had cause for alarm. Protestantism was 
making great headwa}' in France ; thev had lost England and to 
lose France would be lopping off' too large a branch, so this man of 
sin sitting at Rome was urging on the Qiieen mother to a general 
massacre, and made great offers of wealth as a further inducement, 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 167 

but she was so well versed in the value of the pope's words and 
promises that it had no effect to move her to immediate action ; she 
would wait, as the tiger waits for the prey ; but the pope gained his 
point, with one less experienced ; the king of Navarre ; his false 
promises drew him to his side. 

The duke of Guise was on his way to Paris to make fresh assaults 
on the Protestants, and on passing through the village of Vassey 
where Protestants had met to worship, it being Sunday, he made a 
sudden attack on these harmless people in the place of worship, and 
brutally maimed, killed or wounded between three and four hun- 
dred. 

We have followed this inoffensive people up to this point, who 
have suffered every kind of indignity, even loss of life and property, 
at the hands of those at the head of the country ; not for any virtue 
of their own, or because they had a greater stake in the country 
than those thev persecuted, on the contrary, if worth was made the 
test the advantage would be on the side of the oppressed. 

If any one deserved burning or hanging, surely it was the Qiieen 
mother, the pope and this Duke of Guise, a need}^ adventurer, who 
made his way to power by a means which the humblest of this band 
of Protestants would despise, especially acting in concert with the 
Romanists with that monster the pope at its head. 

No country can be clean, or ever has been, that is infested by 
their presence. 

Oh, for a broom to sweep the earth clean from such monsters. 
'By their fruits shall you know them ! !' Do we not recognize the 
good by their patient merits under such dire afflictions? And these 
sons of the evil one, by their acts and the cloven foot? 

On the Duke of Guise reaching Paris, just fresh from this dreadful 
slaughter at Vassey, his sword and that of his followers dripping 
with blood, you would think his actions would be repudiated. But 
no I he is made a hero of; the mob idolize him as if he had done 



l68 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

some virtuous act ; and with such encouragement the bloody work is 
repeated in town after town ; pillage and massacre to all men, 
women and children ; homes destroyed. The usual signal, the bells 
of the churches ring to bring the mob together, and these wicked 
acts are not only done with the consent of this so-called church, 
but they think they are doing God service, and all will be well here 
and hereafter. 

Oh I what infatuation ! Why do we allow these same people to 
have bells in their so-called churches to-day? Is it not for the same 
purpose, when they get strong enough to begin a reign of terror 
amongst us? They already say they hope to see the streets up to 
their elbows in Protestant blood ; they are now controlled by circum- 
stances ; the opportunity is all that is needed. 

In the year 1524, at a town in France called Melden, one John 
Clerk, affixed a bill on the church door in which he called the pope 
antichrist ; for this offense he was repeatedly whipped and then 
branded in the forehead. His mother, who saw the chastisement, 
cried with a loud voice, 'Blessed be Christ, and welcome these 
marks for his sake.' He went after\vard to Metz in Lorraine, and 
demolished some images, for which he had his right hand and nose 
cut off, and his arms and breast torn by pincers ; while suffering 
these cruelties, he was sufficiently at ease to sing the 115th Psalm, 
which expressly forbids superstition ; on concluding the Psalm he 
was thrown into the fire and burnt to ashes. About the same time 
several persons of the reformed persuation were beaten, racked, 
scourged and burnt to death in several parts of France, but parti- 
cularly at Paris Limosin and Malda. " Fox's Book of Martyrs. 

"At ^Paris, Alexander Kanus, a reformed clergyman, was burnt 
in a slow fire, and four men were committed to the flames for distri- 
buting papers that ridiculed the performance of mass. One had his 
tongue bored through. Peter Gaudet, a Genoese, burnt bv the de- 
sire of his own uncle, a bigoted Roman Catholic, and John Pointer, 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 69 

a surgeon, had his tongue cut out and was then burnt. One Stephen 
Brune was condemned to be burnt for refusing to attend mass. 
When the fire was kindled the flames were driven from him by a 
brisk wind, which occasioned the executioner to heap more fagots 
around him and pour oil on them ; still however, the wind blew the 
flames in a contrary direction, when the executioner, absurdly 
enraged with Brune, struck him on the head ; but Brune very calmly 
said, 'As I am condemned only to be burnt, why do you strike me 
like a dog?' This expression so enraged the executioner that he 
ran him through with a pike and then burnt the liteless body." — 
Foxe's Martyrs. 

"Peter Serre was originally a priest, but reflecting on the errors of 
popery, he at length embraced the reformed religion and learned 
the trade of a shoemaker. Having a brother at Toulouse, a bigoted 
Roman Catholic, Serre, out of fraternal love, made a journey to that 
cit}' in hope of dissuading him from his superstitions; the brother's 
wife, not approving of his design, lodged a complaint against him on 
which he was apprehended, and made a full declaration of his faith. 
The j^dge asked him concerning his occupation, to which he replied, 
'I have of late practiced the trade of a shoennaker.' 'Of late !' said 
the judge, 'and what did you practice formerly?' 'That I am almost 
ashamed to tell you,' explained Serre, 'because it was the vilest and 
most wickest occupation imaginable.' 

All who were present supposed from these words that he had 
been a murderer or a thief and that what he spoke was through con- 
trition. 

The judge, however, ordered him to explain precisely what he 
meant, when Serre, with tears in his eyes, exclaimed, ' Oh, I was 
formerly a popish priest ! ' This reply so much exasperated the 
judge that he condemned Serre first to be degraded, then to have his 
tongue cut and afterwards to be publicly burnt." Fox's Martvrs. 



170 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

At Tours, several hundred were shut up in a church for three days 
without food and then brought out two at a time and butchered. 

Fron:i three to four thousand were massacred ; at Toulouse the river 
ran down with blood. 

The priests made use of the churches on Sundays to influence the 
people and issue fresh orders for murdering christians. Thev have 
at all times made use of these buildings with their dark passages, 
for purposes of evil, to store gunpowder, cartridges, daggers 
and swords. 

Their hatred was so great that inoffensive people were disem- 
bowled in the streets ; the law pronounced them traitors to God and 
the king. 

Is it a wonder they should at last band themselves together for 
self defense? 

Had they not, this wholesale slaughter would have continued ; the 
Huguenots were already ordered out of Paris and had become 
refugees. 

The Duke of Guise, this wholesale assassin, now reaps the fruit of 
his sowing, namely, the assassin's shot, and it proves fatal, although 
not immediate; at the moment of his fall he is planning fresh out- 
rages, for to-morrow Orleans is to be made a blackened heap : and 
he is also planning to carry the sword all over France, when lo ! his 
career is cut short in a moment, and remorse fills his soul, and now 
when we fear too late for him, he advises Catherine de Medici to 
make peace with the Huguenots. 

His death gives the government of France more into her hands ; 

er son Charles IX being king. The Catholic party charges Admi- 
ral de Colign}^ with the duke's death, but he refutes it. The Qiieen 
makes a false peace with the Protestants. How could a substantial 
one be made with a woman whose whole life was tainted with the 
Doison of popery? 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 171 

She was at this time planning with Philip II of Spain for a gen- 
eral massacre, vvhich must be left to tim^e and circumstances to 
develop. 

She was constantly receiving letters from pope Pius V, he quoting 
scripture, or misquoting it to suit his purpose, and urging her to be- 
lieve that exterminating heretics will be well pleasing to God. She 
meets her daughter, wife of Philip of Spain, also the Duke of Alva 
his ambassador, at Bayonne, 1565, and it is thought the massacre of 
Saint Bartholomew was planned there. 

She sends word to pope Pius V that nothing is so near her heart 
as the destruction of all the Protestants. 

Her son Charles now enters into his fourteenth year, and was de- 
clared to have attained his majority ; he assumes the government, 
but gives all real power to his mother. 

The year 1564 was spent in visiting different parts of the kingdom 
with her son and suit. 

Another treaty was made in 1568 but in 1569 war broke out again 
fiercer than ever. 

The Prince of Conde was taken prisoner and assassinated ; this 
was a great blow to the Huguenots. 

Henry, the King of Navarre, became their leader, but the direction 
of the war was in the hands of Admiral Colign}'. The Protestants 
met with some reverses and also some victories, until Catherine was 
tired of the war, for in 1570 the Catholics were entirely depressed, 
and a treaty was signed at St. Germains giving the Huguenots the 
free use of their religion all over the kingdom except Paris, and 
were placed on an equality with Romanists with respect to public 
offices and professions. 

As a guarantee, the cities La Rochelle, Cognac, Montauban and 
La Charite were placed in the hands of the Huguenots to garrison 
their troops. Catherine did not grant these terms willingly, they 



172 WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL r 

were forced from her by the successes of the war. Tnis displeased 
the pope and the King of Spain; they thought it humiliating to the 
church. 

This is one of the prominent traits of Romanists when they are 
beaten ; they wait to take you at a disadvantage ; 'twas so with the 
Queen Mother. She fawned on the Huguenots, while secretly watch- 
ing to get them in a trap. 

The treaty of 1570 lulled the Huguenots into a false security ; they 
being honest and having no political interests at stake, did not think 
the Queen and party so deceptive ; however it gave them rest for 
two years. 

And now a new design comes forward ; the Qiieen says, in order 
to cement the new bonds between the religious parties, she proposes 
a marriage between her daughter Marguerite de Valois and Henr}', 
the young King of Navarre, the leader of the Huguenots. 

The mother of Henry had reared her son a Protestant, and shrank 
with disgust and suspicion at the proposal, but the leaders persuaded 
her to it. 

Then a dispensation was asked of the pope in order to unite a 
Protestant and a pagan and he refused. 

This marriage was either right or wrong ; if wrong could a dispen- 
sation from a murderer in heart change it? 

Charles IX being desirous for the match, told the pope he would 
have his sister married by a Huguenot preacher ; then the dispensa- 
tion came. The marriage was not popular and the Romanists begun 
to foment strife agrain. 

Coligny was received at court with marked fa^■or and Catherine 
was alarmed at the influence he had with the king. 

She and the Guises became allies again for evil to raise up fresh 
hatred between the two parties. The principal men of the 
Huguenot party were invited to Paris to take part in the wedding, 
and also to have them in the trap the allies were preparing for them. 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 73 

The Queen of Navarre was also invited to Paris, and died suddenly 
on the 9th of July, 1572. She was believed to be poisoned by the 
orders of the Queen mother. The historiaij Darrila, a Catholic, 
says, she was poisoned to exempt her from the general massacre, 
she being of royal blood. 

This was a warning to many Huguenots, and they left Paris. 
Coligny was advised to do the same, but his unsuspecting nature 
would not doubt the royal family. 

The Queen had now become determined to carry out the plot. 
Her chief confidents were her son, the Duke of Anyon, afterwards 
Henry HI, the Duke of Guise, Marshal de Tavannes, the Count de 
Retz and the Duke of Nevens ; these planned and carried out the 
diabolical events which followed. 

The pope and the Catholic priests who were the main instigators 
of this devilish work, put their people in regular training for the part 
the}' were to act. 

On the 18th of August, 1572, Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of 
Valois were married by the cardinal Bourbon. 

The marriage greatly exasperated the Catholics, and ominous 
rumors began to fill the capitol. The court was given up to revelry 
and feasting, but the Queen Mother and allies were busy preparing 
for the infernal work. 

The first blow was struck on the 22d of August by an assassin 
hired by the Duke of Guise firing on Coligny and inflicting a severe 
wound on him as he left the court for his lodgings. 

The king visited him and the admiral warned him of the pernicious 
efiects of his mother's management, and counselled him to deprive 
her of power. 

This affected the king and alarmed the conspirators. If the king 
listened to Coligny, they were lost. The masses had been so in- 
flamed that it was impossible to restrain them ; they tried to win 
over the king to their side, and they so worked over the weak 



174 ■ WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

minded king with false rumors of plots that he jumped the bounds of 
caution to the extreme measure of exterminating the Huguenots, and 
their leaders ; not one should escape. The conspirators took him at 
his word. Arms were given to the Catholic citizens, who distin- 
guished themselves by white scarfs around their left arms and white 
crosses on their hats. 

The soldiers were called in from the suburbs, and on the 23d, the 
Catholic leaders were putting their forces in the best position for the 
hour when the signal would be given. 

Very early on the morning of the 24th of August, 1572, the feast 
of St. Bartholomew, the Duke of Guise commenced this feast of 
blood by the murder of Coligny at his house. 

He was despatched by one of the men that was with him when he 
attacked his house, and as soon as the report of this murder reached 
the Qiieen she ordered the priests of the church of St. German and 
Auxerrois, to give the signal on the bell. 

Paris immediately responded from ever}- belfry, and the quiet citv 
now became all life and animation ; lights from ever}- part, armed 
bands in every street begun the work of destruction : all day long 
the massacre went on ; men, women and children, all ages were 
slaughtered, none spared ; the streets and the numbers of houses, 
had been carefulh^ taken, they were all helpless and taken b}- sur- 
prise ; could ofler no resistance. 

The Qiieen and party viewed this religious work from the palace, 
and it was continued for several days in other cities as well as Paris ; 
the estimates of the slaughter differ ; some statements running as 
high as 100,000 : some 70,000; some 60,000; some less. 

This horrid work had scarcely ended, before the Qiiecn Mother, 
the hopeful king and the rest of the conspirators saw they had com- 
mitted a great and irreparable act, and as usual with criminals, they 
already try to shift the blame on each other. 



FRANXE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 75 

The Duke of Guise came in for liis share, but would not bear all 
the blame, so the king on the 26th of August, declared in parliament, 
he was responsible for the massacre as a political and not a religious 
act, to suppress a dangerous conspiracy on the part of the Huguenots, 
which even their enemies pronounced false. 

When Philip of Spain heard from the Queen Mother the news by 
letter, he is said to have laughed aloud for the first and only time in 
his life. 

At Rome the news was received with a triumphant salute from the 
castle of Angelo, the city illuminated, a Te Deum, the pope and car- 
dinals assisting. A medal was struck by the order of the pope to 
commemorate the massacre. 

This was one of the blackest acts of History. By the deception of 
the king and his mother some two hundred Protestant noblemen and 
others were invited to sleep in the palace, a trap to lure them to 
death, and about midnight were led out, one by one, went through 
two rooms of soldiers, through dark passages and were put to 
death bv the poignard or other weapons, and the dead bodies piled 
together at the gates of the palace. 

Rev. J. A. Wylie says, "By and by the sun arose : who can des- 
cribe the horrors which the broad light of day disclosed to view? 
The entire population of the French capitol was seen maddened 
with rage, or agliast with terror. 

On its wretched streets, what tragedies of horror and crime were 
being enacted. 

Some were fleeing, others were pursuing ; some were supplicating 
for life, others were responding by the murderous blow, which, if it 
silenced the cry for mercy, awoke the cry for justice. Old men, and 
infants in their swaddling clothes were alike butchered on that awful 
night. Our very page would weep were we to record all the atro- 
cities now enacted. Corpses were being precipitated from the roofs 
and windows, others were being dragged through the streets by the 



1^6 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

feet or were piled up in carts and driven away to be shot in the river. 
The kennels were running with blood. Guise, Tavannes and D'An- 
gouleme traversing the streets on horseback and raising their voices 
to their highest pitch to be audible above the tolling of the bells ; the 
yells of the murderers and the cries and moanings of the wounded 
and the dving were inciting to yet greater fury those whom hate and 
blood had already transformed into demons. 

'It is the king's orders,' cried Guise, 'Blood I blood ! ' shouted out 
Tavannes ; Blood ! ever}^ kennel was full ; the Seine as it rolled 
through Paris seemed but a river of blood : and the corpses which it 
was bearing to the ocean were so numerous that the bridges had 
difficulty in giving them passage, and were in some danger of be- 
coming choked and turning back the stream, and drowning Paris in 
blood of its own shedding. Such was the gigantic horror on which 
the sun of that Sunday morning the 24th of August, 1572, St. Bar- 
tholomew's day looked down upon." Rev. J. A. Wylie, His. of 
Protestantism, vol. II, page 603. 

The massacre of St. Bartholomew struck a terrible blow at the 
Huguenots, but did not destroy them. The survivors took up arms 
and the war broke out again. 

The Prince of Conde managed to escape from court and headed 
ihe movement. 

The Huguenot city of Rochelle was besieged without success : in 
July, 1573, a fresh treaty was made giving liberty of conscience and 
worship in a few places. 

"He that killeth with the sword, must be killed by the sword." 
Revelation XIII, part of 10. 

One of the greatest characteristics of the true christian is, they die 
well ; whatever troubles they have in life, when the hour of death 
comes, such support is given them they feel the battle is all over, 
and eternal rest begins ; we see this exemplified in the sick room, 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 77 

at Stake, or under an}' circumstances ; they are always ready. The 
future and the present are so blended ; to them eternity has begun ; 
they have the evidence of the divine hand over them ; the last breath 
ushers them in the presence of their redeemer in opposition to all 
that infidelity may utter. Not so with the enemies of the true 
religion. They trust the human inventions and hnd at the last 
moment they are sinking sand — weights to draw them under — these 
so-called Catholics live in doubt, or else under a false securit}'', and 
look only to the church. I never could get one of them to tell 
me what that means, but whatever it is, it takes them away from 
looking to Jesus, and at their best they fear the pains of this imagin- 
ary purgator}'. Jesus said, "if any man will do my will he shall 
know of this doctrine." How can a man do his will if he does not 
find out what that will is? Some of these murderers were told by 
their priests that they were doing God's will in murdering those he 
loved. Do you suppose if they had found out what his will really 
was they could have been transformed to such monsters? But let us 
contrast the last moments of the chief actors in these massacres with 
those spoken of above. Francis I, we have already noticed, died 
with remorse on his soul. 

Henry H, the next king, died young at the age of 41. He is 
suddenly called away, slain while wasting his time in mimic war- 
fare ; this ends the man that witnessed the burning of the tailor. 

His eldest son, Francis H, was made from two poisonous stocks, 
the Valious and Medici, he is suddenly smitten witli a malady in the 
head, only about seventeen years old ; his reign not quiet a 3'ear and 
a half, his hands full of blood, and so he passes away — forsaken 
after death b}- his own household, and scarcely an\f decency at his 
funeral. 

The next king, Charles IX died 1574, 25 years old ; the weak man 
that gave consent to tlie massacre of Bartholomew, worked upon by 
vile priests and his own mother, at the last moment sighing and 



178 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

moaninor with the visions of blood before his eyes, waited on bv a 
Huguenot nurse, crying, "I am lost I Oh, I have followed bad ad- 
vice I what murders ! what blood I I see it plainly now I" His tears 
and sobs almost choking him, and so he passed away. Where were 
the tempting fiends, the priests, now? Where was their boasted 
power, to this poorest man in France, almost before his maker? 

The next king, Henry HI, died very 3'oung. A monk named 
Jaques Clement killed him with a dagger; he had primed himself to 
this deed by fasting and absolution, and other wicked excesses. 

The pope's excommunication being the cause, this king"s life was 
full of blood, and so he died. 

The then present Duke of Guise was murdered on being treacher- 
ously invited to the castle of Blois. This was the man that made the 
assault on Coligny's house with assasins to murder him ; he now dies 
by the assassin's hand. 

The mother now dies ; scarcely two weeks after the murder of 
the Duke of Guise, which act sjhe approved, and at the same time 
pointing out a fresh victim, she breathes her last : all her schemes 
failed and all her partners in guilt dying violent deaths, her dynasty 
at an end. 

It seemed to be the business of this most Holy church, so called, 
to either murder those refusing to join its most unholy connection, 
•or to find victims among themselves. What a character this Queen 
presents to the world, pretending to do God's work when she was 
faith full}' serving her master, the Devil. To describe the workings 
of her wicked heart would be impossible ; reared from her birth 
among the evil doers of this Church of Rome, she became more like 
a demon than a human being. She was in fact a true disciple of the 
church ; she was, with her accomplices, what the church of Rome 
made them. 

Let us now notice the deaths of the popes that I'ived in the time of 
Francis I to the massacre or Bartholomew, or from 1549 to 1565, the 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. 1 79 

date of the first and last election. The last of these lived to 1590 ; 
this will give a fair specimen of what the lives of popes have been. 

The first Julius III, 1549. The beginning of this man's history 
as given by Baile}^ refers to a correspondence between his holiness 
and a courtesan of Rome, whose favors Julius shared with the card- 
inal Crescentius, and whose children were reared at a common 
expense. These letters contain recitals so disgusting that it is 
impossible to put them in decent language. On one occasion — let 
his own language speak for itself: 

"By the womb of the virgin. I swear my minion shall be cardinal. 
What have you to reproach him with, to refuse his admittance into 
your college; his vices? are you not all devoured by shameful 
maladies and plunged into all kinds of abominations? Let him 
among 3'^ou who has not prostituted himself, carnally at least, once 
in his life, cast the first stone at him. Ah, you keep silence ; do ^^ou 
admit then, that we are all of us a disgrace to humanity? Com- 
mence with me ; what great virtues — what great knowledge did you 
encounter in me — to make me pope? Am I not an execrable priest? 
Am I not a thousand times more infamous than my minion, the 
keeper of monkeys whom I corrupted? Well, then ; should he be 
better than I, who am, thanks to you, sovereign father of the faith- 
ful? How dare vou refuse to make a cardinal and a bishop of 
him?" 

These reasons appeared so conclusive to the sacred college that 
all opposition ceased ; the promotion of the gangmede passed unani- 
mously, and on the same day his holiness sent the hat to Bologna, 
with a draft for twelve thousand crowns on the apostolic treasury. 

Innocent set out at once for Rome, where his arrival gave rise to 
public rejoicings, which lasted for several da3s. 

From that moment the 3'oung cardinal never left the Vatican, now 
passing his da^'s in the private apartments of his holiness, extended 
upon soft cushions, and contemplating the antics of a favorite 



l8o WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

monkey, whilst courtesans burned soft perfumes and poured out 
enervating liquors about him, now filling the functions of head of 
the church, which had been surrendered to him with the title of 
first minister and dispenser of grants, benefices and prebends. — " L. 
M. De Cormtin, His. of Popes, vol. 2, page 218." 

We continue ; " at the court of his holiness ;" says a grave histor- 
ian, " the days and nights were passed in feasting and saturnalia. 
It frequently happened that the pope, after having become intoxica- 
ted in company with his cardinals and loose women, threw oft" his 
garments, compelled his guests, male and female, to do the same, 
then putting on an under vest, which descended scarcely below his 
breast, he placed himself at the head of this strange dance and 
traversed the gardens of the Vatican, singing and dancing. 

When the holy father was tired, he re-entered the palace bo con- 
tinue the orgies. 

' Well ' said he to his candidates ' what do you think the people 
would do, if in the day-time, with candles in our hands, we went in 
this accoutriement to the field of Flava, singing obscene songs 
instead of hymns?' ' Stone us ;' replied a cardinal ; ' then,' replied 
the pope, 'we owe it to our dress that we are not stoned, as we 
deserve to be.' " L. M. De Cormein, His. of Popes, vol. 2, page 218. 

This is one of the popes and some ot the cardinals that are burn- 
ing so-called heretics for their sins. Form your own judgment. 

This pope pursued the Jesuits in France. The Diet at Augsburg 
had given the Lutherans proprietorship in the property taken from 
the Roman church in Germany, and perfect equality, between the 
Romanists and the protestants, and permitting the priests to marry ; 
the news caused this most holy father to go into such a passion that 
it brought on a violent fever and as he was already sick iu conse- 
quence of his excesses at table, he could not support the shock — he 
died the 23d of March, 1555. 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. l8l 

Marcel II, became the pope in the same March, 1555, and for a 
pope, he was a good man. Instead of spending the money in 
debaucher}', he gave it to the poor, and tried to make some moral 
reforms. A virtuous pope could not live long, so he died after a 
reign of tvventA-one da^'s, of apjplexv, Apwil 30, 1555, but all believe 
he was poisoned. 

The death of the venerable Marcel adds new force to the fact we 
have already pointed out in the course of this history ; it is, that 
among the small number of holy prelates, none has been able to pre- 
serve the tiara long enough to put into execution plans of reform 
among clergy, on the ecclesiastical orders, and that all, without 
exception, have perished by a violent death. 

Are we then to conclude that in order to be pope one must possess 
every vice and have committed every crime? 

Are we to suppose that cardinals and princes of the church only 
regard those popes worthy of their admiration who sacrafice dutches 
and kingdoms to their bastards, or those who compose their courts 
of but minions and harlots, or those who abandon themselves to the 
most shameful debaucheries, or those finally, who, like hyenas, 
delight in the sight of dead bodies and bathe in blood? 

Alas, is it not but too true that in the eyes of the adorers of the 
Roman purple, and of the Satellites of the theocracy, the greatest 
popes are those who during their lives have yearly swallowed up 
millions in the pleasures of the table or debaucheries, or even still 
more, those who have burned on the funeral pyres of the inquisition, 
whole people, and who have invented new torments to the already 
Irightful sufferings of their victims." L. M. De Cormein, His. 
of Popes, vol 2, page 227. 

"Paul IV was then elected, and begun by building new prisons, 
doubling the judges and keeping the executioners in full work ; he 
published a bull of excommunication against the faithful, if they de- 
parted in the slightest word from the doctrine of the church. 



l82 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Great temporal and spiritual penalties were enforced against them : 
princes, kings, emperors, bishops, arch-bishops and even cardinals 
should be led to the scaffold if the most holy inquisition found them 
guilty of the least sign of heresy. 

This man had heated chambers built by the inquisition, and sent 
spiritual thunders every where ; the wars between France and Spain 
he had been instrumental in promoting, and on the cessation of 
hostilities, he fell into a violent fit of anger and died the lOth of 
August, 1559. 

Pius IV was next; this man refused to allow the Huguenots of 
France to administer the sacrament as Jesus had appointed, and 
planned the conspiracies of the massacres in France and Spain, with 
Catherine and the Spanish king; he died, drunk, after drinking 12 
flasks of wine, on the 8th or 9th of December, 1565. 

Then comes Pius V, 1564; this was a wicked, ferocious wretch; 
he induces the King of Spain to massacre his subjects in the low 
countries; he wishes the extermination of the whole of the Protest- 
ants of Europe ; his death relieves the world of a monster — he died a 
dreadful death by a loathsome and painful disease on the 5th of May, 

1572- 

Then comes Gregory XIII, the pope that with the cardinals made 
public processions and offered up blasphemous prayers and idol- 
atrous ceremonies to God for the devilish work done in France on 
St. Bartholomew's day. 

Then Sixtus V, at war and strife with friend or foe, freighted with 
blood, quarrels with the Jesuites, who affixed to the statue of Pas- 
guin, 'Sixtus V is tired of life.' A few days later this wretch dies of 
poison, the 27th of August, 1590. 

Is it not strange that the Bible, the word of God, that had lain hid 
all these centuries and which was the rule by which the apostles 
regulated their lives and teachings is no sooner brought to light by 
Luther and others, and is reforming the countries of Europe, 



FRANCE REFUSES PROTESTANTISM. • 103 

when this pope, a fiend in human form, his very soul and con- 
science dripping with blood, he with a body of cardinals, all 
kindred souls should undertake to revise this book. A book that 
might have rotted on the shelves for all they would care. So now 
they revise it in order to destroy its meaning, and make it less 
terrible to this paganism they were teaching. 

This is the same pope that promised so much to Spain if it would 
get up a fleet and invade England. Known by the name of the 
invincible and Armada. Were such men fit to revise the word of 
God? 

His, the pope's, rapacity and cruelty had excited such a hatred 
against him that on the day of his death, a revolution broke out in 
the holy city ; the people ran to arms, broke the Statues of ihe tyrant, 
drove off his Satilles and went to besiege the Vatican, to seize the 
dead body and cast it in the Tiber." 

After that came Urban VII 1590 : he was poisoned by the Jesuits 
in twelve days. 

Then Gregory XIV 1560 ; poisoned the next year. Innocent IX 
1591, poisoned in two months by the cardinals who elected him. 

We have given a few more popes than we said, but the life and 
death of all the popes could be given as well as the history of this 
country, France, down to the time when the nobles were murdered 
or banished as the fruits which grew out of this wicked so-called 
religion; we have not the room, neither is it the intention of this 
book. 

We have shown sufficient to prove the actors in this wacked w^ork 
were not christians, and that they never prosper, or if they do, it is 
only for a short time ; they are cut off suddenly without hope, and 
do not die as the christian dies, rejoicing, under all circumstances. 

Such was the character and reputation of these men and women 
who undertook to set up themselves as the schoolmasters of the day. 
True religion makes men and women pure, holy, righteous, lovir^g, 



184 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

gentle, patient, temperate, charitable. Well, did the heads of the 
church answer the above description? 

No one would or ought to work for the Lord without clean hands ; 
it is labor lost ; it is worse than useless, for God will not hear you. 
No man can serve two masters 'His servants ye are to whom ye 
obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness' 
— so then did these people do all out of a pure heart. If so, their lives 
ought to be a pattern to us to-day. Can we look back on these 
people that composed this church with reverence and a desire to imi- 
tate them? 

We answer No ! They were living in open adultery ; murder- 
ers in heart and fact, and no murderer can enter the kingdom of 
heaven ; blasphemers of God ; religion was only a name — a hobby — 
and they knew nothing about the religion that saves : all idolatry, 
copied from other nations. They were led on by the spirit of evil, 
and we execrate their very names and feel that the lowest prison 
cells would have been too good a place for such wretches. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
ENGLAND. 

*'And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after 
other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this 
day, that ye shall surely perish." Deuteronomy VIII, 19. 

WHEN Roman Catholicism was first introduced into England, 
is uncertain. It is thought Paul went there ; we have Bible 
history speaking of his engagements in Spain. See 
Romans XV, 24-28. And from there he might have gone to England ; 
at any rate some of the disciples did, and introduced Christianity in the 
first century ; this does not mean poperv, for at that time it did not 
exist, only under the old form, paganism. 

The Romanists claim the work of the apostles was for them. 
They claim a good many things, but in this age we want facts. 
The}' claim St. Patrick in Ireland, but it is very doubtful, so early 
as the fourth century, if he took anything but Christianity from his 
native place, Scotland ; we think he knew no more of popery than 
Peter and Paul — popery at that day had not been invented. 

We think as Alfred the Great was partly educated in Rome, he 
might have brought some of the dogmas with him in the ninth cen- 
tury ; secular history is so uncertain up to the fifth or sixth centu- 
ries. 



l86 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Westminster Abbey was finished by King Edward in the begin- 
ning of the eleventh centur}^ so it had a footing by that time, but 
we have nothing to do with the English history except as it relates 
to the church. 

We will commence in King John's time, the beginning of the 
thirteenth centur3^ and here at the very start, we find the pope and 
his representatives quarrelling with everything and everj^body, inter- 
fering with the internal management of the country', provoking wars 
between England and France, objecting to how they elected their 
archbishop of Canterbury. 

John refused to let the pope have his way, so he laid the kingdom 
under an interdict in 1207 ; this was a serious matter in those super- 
stitious days, but if the king had been a man, and stood out, the 
Barons might have backed him ; as it was he submitted and laid his 
crown at his pope's legate's feet, and by this act, made submission 
to the tyrant of Rome ; of course he received his crown back, but 
the English had to swallow the degiadaiion. We find the English 
at this period having a great desire for liberty', and so they wrung 
from the King that great blessing known as Magna Charta, or the 
great charter. 

The pope objected to this, for he hates liberty of any kind ; he 
annulled the charter and threatened to excommunicate the king if 
he did not break his part of it ; this begins war again : the barons 
invited the French to invade England. When the king died, it is 
thought a monk poisoned him. 

His eldest son, a boy of ten years was crowned as Henr}- III, 
October, 1216; this ended the war. 

We will pass over the wars of England, and reach the time when 
John Wyclifte came upon the scene, born 1324; but previous to this 
the aggressions of the papacy had been severly felt. 

John W3'cliffe was sent to Oxford to be educated ; he was in every 
sense a great man ; his mind had been illuminated by deep study of the 
Bible ; he was the greatest reformer before the time of Luther. 



ENGLAND. I 87 

In his day the scriptures were not known or read excepting by a 
few ; they had been brought into almost silence by this church, but 
Wyclifte's soul had been purged by its study and direction ; he 
saw what no one can fail to see who reads it in the right spirit, 
that popery was antichrist. 

He begun in the time of Edward III to preach that the scriptures 
did not teach the supremacy of the pope ; he spoke against many of 
the doctrines of the Romish church, and won the favor of the court 
by his manly defense of the independence of England against the 
claims of the pope. 

He completed his translation of the Bible into the English lan- 
guage in 1380, which was eagerly sought after. 

Queen Anne, the first wife of Richard II, became a reader and 
convert to many of Wycliffe's views ; his writings reached the mar- 
tyr John Huss, in Bohemia, and he commenced the reform in Ger- 
many, afterwards begun again by Luther ; the principles as taught 
by Wyclift'e never really died out in England ; it was the smoulder- 
ing fire which at last broke out, and reformation was the conse- 
quence. 

The people of England could not forget the deep humiliation their 
forefathers had undergone by King John giving his crown to the 
pope ; they begun to see they ought to have a voice in such matters as 
well as the king or pope, and the parliament of Edward III made 
the whole proceedings null and void, and the barons stated, with 
their hands upon the hilts of their swords, if the pope wanted the 
kingdom, he might come and take it. 

This spirit of independence was in a great measure due to the teach- 
ings of WyclifFe ; the Bible no sooner enters the country than its 
fetters begin to break off. No wonder these tyrants of the earth 
hate it. 

Wyclifte's writings had been read all over Europe and all eyes 
were looking anxiously to see the outcome of this battle with the pope. 



lob WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.^ 

He also laid bare the evils of the mendicant friars ; they were 
gathering in the wealth of the country under the disguise of poverty, 
and having sumptuous tables and making expensive buildings or 
sending large sums of money out of the country ; they almost mono- 
polized the preaching, which consisted mostl}^ in telling stories to 
create laughter ; they gave absolution on such easy terms that all 
criminals went for pardon, and so greatly increased the crimes of the 
country. 

Men were beginning to ask themselves the question, "are we to 
look to the pope or to God for pardon/"? And that caused them to 
search the scriptures. One of the great evils of the da}' was found 
in the fact of the pope having swallowed up most of the offices in 
the country, in and out of the church. 

An enquir}' was made in 1374 ^^ ^^ ^^^ number of ecclesiastical 
benefices and dignities iield in England by foreigners. The Italians 
and Frenchmen held so many that the English had to give way to 
these minions of the pope ; most of the country was in their hands : 
the sums of money sent out was enormous. 

We are doing the same thing in America to-day. Most of the 
offices are filled by those friendly to this so-called church. Ameri- 
cans are taking a back seat ; the same old policy is being pursued to 
force this detested system on us. 

Wyclifte, by this time, had had experience whh the pope's ambas- 
sadors, and on his writings he calls the pope antichrist ; the proud 
and worldly priest of Rome I and complains that the large sums of 
money drawn from England each year is only given for his cursed 
heresies and simonies ; all men coming in contact with the heads 
of this church see a once its glaring impostures. 

The poor people who see nothing but the services in the churches 
know little about popery ; they should go behind the scenes ; let the 
mask be lowered, and oh, what a hideous skeleton is then before 
them. 



ENGLAND. 1 89 

The writings of Wyclift'e so opened the eyes of the people, and it 
begun to have its effects in the stopping of money going to Rome ; 
the pope was getting alarmed, and issued his usual bulls in 1377, 
one of which was addressed to the king against the heretic, John 
WycHffe ; he must be taken prisoner and kept so until his heresy 
was proven to the pope, and he was cited to appear in Our Ladys' 
Chapel in St. Paul's. 

John of Lancaster, known as John of Gaunt, and the Lord Peicy, 
Earl Marshal of England, both attended, and had much difficulty in 
getting through the mob to the chapel. Wycliffe here stood in the 
presence of his judges, with his two friends ; the bishop was vexed 
to see him with such friends, and making some rude remark at the 
same time ordering Wycliffe to stand. 

Percy, and John of Gaunt, told the bishop he should sit, to which 
he replied, "he must and shall stand ; it is unreasonable that any- 
one on his trial before his ordinary should sit." They both replied 
he should sit, and John of Gaunt, addressing the bishop, told him he 
had '-grown so proud and arrogant that he would bring down his 
pride, and that of all the prelacy in England." 

The altercation grew so high that at last, John of Gaunt told the 
bishop he would "drag him out of court by the hair of his head." 

The mob now burst in, to the mortification of these priests and the 
bishop, who thought to have the one man alone at their mercy, and 
perhaps to send him to prison and to torture him, but it turned out 
different, and they were glad to escape to save themselves. This 
meeting showed the spirit of the English even at that early da}-, and 
was a help to the reformation ; it brought Wycliffe and his opinions 
more and more before the public. 

Edward III died June 2, 1377, and Richard H, eleven years old, 
was now king ; his mother was the dowager princess of Wales, a 
grand woman and friendly to Wycliffe's cause. The pope at this 



190 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

time was living at Avignon, since reunited to France, liaving been 
banished from Rome. 

Tiie money drained from England during this time, w'^ent to sup- 
port the French war against England, so the parliament discussed the 
question of keeping this money the Catholics were in the habit of 
sending, and not allowing it to go to help the enem}' the pope had 
stirred up. 

The primate again cited WyclifFe to appear at Lambeth in 1378, 
but the crowd was so great and all in his favor, and also a message 
from the Qiieen Mother ordering the bishops not to pass any sentence 
on Wycliffe, it so made them fear, for such men are alwa\'s 
cowards unless they have a large majority on their side, that it 
broke up the meeting to their confusion. If this nation could only 
have seen as some of us do to day, the imposition of popeiy, the 
whole business as far as England was concerned would have ended 
then and there ; but remnants of superstition was still left, and they 
had to go through much blood and suffering to wipe it out. 

At this period even in England, the right to read the Bible was 
disputed by Rome and defended by Wycliffe. He gave Rome the 
greatest challenge she had had, by posting up at Oxford in 13S1, 
twelve propositions against the dogma of transubstantiation, and 
giving a general challenge. So great a hold had this strange and 
almost new dogma, taken of the people at Oxford that many 
cried "heresy" and a private meeting without Wyclifie's knowledge 
was had, (a custom of the church in that day) and passed sentence 
of suspension from all his teachings and to cease to speak on this 
matter ; he thought they should first prove him in error ; proof in 
those days amongst a certain class was nothing ; all thev wanted 
was to carry their point, right or wrong. 

Again another trial in the monastry of Blackfriars, London, 
May 17, 1382, composed of prelates, mendicant friars, monks, all 
the tools of Rome ; this third time they had WyclifFe sure, when all 



ENGLAND. I9I 

of a sudden a great earthquake shook the building in which they 
assembled ; the members of the court were in great fear, and asked 
an adjournment, but the bishop by some peculiar reasoning made it 
appear as a good omen, and the trial proceeded. 

We need not sa}' the court found his propositions heretical and 
erroneous and they played on the inexperience of the young king, 
gained him over, got his authority to imprison all who were of 
this wa}^ of thinking. 

Oh, what a cui se to have a popish king or ruler in any community ; 
for some time Rome was comparatively harmless, but now the power 
of the king is joined so expect some dreadful times, and let us have 
here in America a president, be he a Roman Catholic or no, if he s 
only in sympathy with this church, we shall soon feel the iron hand. 
Up to this time WyclifFe had had friends, particularly when he 
was fighting about temporal things — things they understood — but 
now he was fighting them in spiritual ; and they were not posted in 
these. How could any man or body of men understand without the 
BiWe to guide them ? And as the king was gained over to the 
enemy he loses nearly all his friends. 

Parliament meets November 19, 1382, and before the priests, who 
are oing their dark work with the 3'oung king secretly, can prevent 
it, VVyclifte brings openly his appeal before a different compan}^ of 
men, than a court of bigoted priests, men whose minds are not 
blinded by this so-called church, and now instead of a trembling 
prisoner, as they would like to see, he boldly challenges their un- 
scriptural lives, exposing their false position, their corrupt, gluttonous, 
licentious mode of living, he makes a grand attack on transubstantia- 
tion showing the pope to be antichrist ; the consequence is the Parlia- 
ment repeals the sentence passed on him behind his back and with- 
out a hearing, and so they were defeated. 

Priests never forgive ; had they known anything about that Jesus 
in whose name they were daily co-mmitting blasphemy, t/hey would 



192 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

have remembered that he told his disciples to "forgive seventy times 
seven " instead of which they again bring him before a con- 
vocation at Oxford, all priests again, but as before they are silenced 
by the inspiration of this one old man, who proves to their faces, 
they and not he, are the heretics, and so, as they have not the power 
to detain him, he walks away, leaving them to their baffled rage and 
confusion. 

And yet another trial ; the pope cites him to come to Rome, but 
he is unable to do so, having received a shock of palsy, so he wrote 
instead a letter, that must have astonished the court of Rome, and 
had they accepted it in good faith it would have benetited them ; if 
not for this world, at any rate the world to come. 

And now comes for Wycliffe the last of earth. Faithful in life, he 
was so to the end. On the last Sunda}-^ of December 1384, he 
having officiated at the communion table with the congregation he 
loved, he was for the third time struck with palsy ; he was taken to 
the rectory and died on the 31st of December. 

We who live in Protestant lands scarcely think how much we owe 
this man ; the liberties we enjo}^ date from his life ; England was 
not 3'et read}' to enter upon the blessings of full libert}' ; the sewers 
had been foully clogged up, and must be cleansed ; this hierarchy 
had so poisoned the stream at which fair England drank, that it 
might require a tremendous storm to remove the obstructions, but 
removed they must be, for the fiat of the Almighty had gone forth in 
that ver}' Bible they are trying to hide, and which this man had 
brought to light, and had left as a lasting legacy to England, and to 
the world : it is destined to go forth, conquering and to conquer un- 
til all such obstructions as popes are cleared away, and every nation 
and people and tongue learn through its instrumentality, to know, 
revere, love and serve that Jesus Christ who is the only high priest, 
and who never appointed any such counterfeits as we tind at Rome. 



ENGLAND. I 93 

The priests had lost, by death, their opponent ; but he had left be- 
hind many disciples, who so increased that it alarmed the bishops 
more and more ; they begun to preach indoors and out of doors, and 
they had something to preach from. 

The people wanted something more than stories of battles and 
scraps from tradition ; the}' wanted the bread of life, and it was 
given them in this itinerant preaching ; they begun to attack the so- 
called church. The priests must stop this, or it would stop them, so 
the Archbishop of York went to King Richard II and must have made 
such fiery statements against the W3'cliffites or Lollards, as they were 
now called, that it made him threaten them with death if they did not 
stop ; but the movement had got such firm hold that insurrections 
broke out, and the King made prisoner in the castle of Pontefract, 
and the scene soon closed over him : he was put to death, not by the 
Lollards, but by his political enemies. 

And now comes King Henry IV ; his reign dates from September 
30th, 1399, placed on the throne by the Archbishop of Canterbury 
and York; this is the son of WyclifFe's friend, John of Gaunt, but 
the archbishop had so corrupted him, he becomes through politics 
the enemy of the Lollards, and this England to whom God has given 
such a high mission on the earth, shame to say, through this King, 
disgraced her name, in listening to these priests, and put on her 
statute books that man must not serve God unless he does it at the 
penalty of iiis life ; and also that he shall suffer the death priests 
recommend — fire I no easier method, but fire I ! 

In this last act are not these priests, popes, friars, nuns and all the 
host of this so-called church writing their own doom for eternity? 
If it takes fire to purge heretics it will also take fire to purge them ; 
being the chief of heretics, can this thought ever strike them? 

This was a turbulant reign, as usual, brought about b}- the priests ; 
the country was all war and open rebellion ; war with France and 
Scotland. But our business is with the actors of this so-called 



194 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

church, and let us begin with some of the first fruits of this disgrace- 
ful law against heretics. 

Once William Savvtre, a rector in a London parish, was made 
prisoner, and the tollowing charges preferred against him. Listen I 
Oh, ye Americans, listen all, to the awful crimes of this man. That 
he will not worship the cross on which Christ suffered, but only 
Christ, who suffered upon the cross. 

That after pronouncing the sacramental words of the body of 
Christ, "The bread remaineth of the same nature that it was before, 
neither does it cease to be bread," 

This was the charge I I What do you tliink of it. England's first 
martyr to Protestantism. 

Had she not redeemed her character since, one would feel like 
washing his hands of her forever. This gentleman was sentenced 
to be burnt alive I I and which took place February 12th, 1401. 

The fires once lighted, the priests kept them busy ; others soon 
followed, and suffered in the same dreadful wa}', because the3'*as- 
serted their manhood in trying to rise superior to this baptized 
paganism. 

This was a disgraceful time, but not more than we ought to expect 
from such men as popes are. Not content in destroying God's 
church in the persons of the Lollards, but keeping up war between 
themselves, the world was cursed at this time by having three popes 
or vicars of Christ, and cursing" one another. 

The council of Pisa pronounced two of them to be notorious and 
incorrigible schismatics and heretics, and guilty of plain perjur}'. 
Catholics should follow a true history of these times, and if after 
that the^• kept on v\ith this idolatry then there would be no help for 
him we fear, here or hereafter. 

To repeat the burnings and imprisonments of the English for this 
period is only to give over again the same cruelty under new names ; 
the whole po\ter of this Roman church was linked with Satan to 



ENGLAND. 195 

destroy this revived church, so we pass on to the death of Henr}- IV 
which took place March 20, 1413, and Henry V, his son, took his 
throne. 

We have always admired this King's spirit ; Shakespeare has made 
him a great hero in his works ; we have many times thought the 
man that could give up his dissolute companions for the honor of his 
position as King, and the good of the country, must have a will 
beyond ordinary men, and if his life had only been blest with Protest- 
antism, he would have cleared England of popery, and the reforma- 
tion as far as England was concerned, would have dated at least a 
century earlier, as it was these crafty priests who persuaded him to 
go to war with France, which drew him away from the country and 
left the people in the hands of these schemers, and gave them full 
scope to shed the blood of the Lollards freely ; but as we find it has 
happened in other places it has grown faster than destroyed, and was 
becoming a formidable power. 

One great reformer was Lord Cobham ; here was an honest man ; 
he had convictions and was not afraid to speak them ; how can any 
man respect an association or so-called church when they see it is 
nothing but a counterfeit? If after being convinced, they bend to 
them for politics, or even life, they are not worthy of the name of 
man. 

Such was not Lord Cobham, or as he was known Sir John Old- 
castle. 

He opened his castle to the preachers, who made it their home, 
and from it the}' did itinerant preaching, spreading the gospel 
through the country. 

This was the light the people and the nation needed, and for that 
reason was dangerous to the papacy, and means was taken to fight 
against the true liffht. 

Lord Cobham was cited to appear before a court of bishops and 
priests — what an absurdity to ask such men for an honest opinion — 



196 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

of course he was convicted, and 3-et everything he said was true, 
and therefore fatal to the papists. He was sentenced as a heritic 
and sent to the tower, but had a stay of fifty days, something unusual 
in those days ; no doubt the king ordered it, as they had once been 
friends, but Lord Cobham escaped from the tower and remained 
free in Wales for four years. 

This so-called church had for centuries enjoyed a sway over 
men's minds ; this was occasioned by the absence of knowledge ot 
the true religion ; men obeyed from ignorance, indifference, and be- 
cause it w^as the custom, they felt the heavy load and the oppression, 
but the laity gave way to the priests because they knew no better, 
and as long as this humiliation lasted peace reigned, but now the 
laity begun to see they had been so fearfullv deceived, and the war 
started ; on the side of the Lollards, a war of opinion ; on the 
priests side, ignorance and cruelty, just because they had won the 
king to their side with the power of the nation ; and their answer to 
all arguments was hangings, beheadings, imprisonments, scourg- 
ings, burnings ; the groans from the thumbscrew, the wedge of the 
iron boot, iniquisitions, star chambers, until as we learn from their 
history, in some countries Protestantism was nearly exterminated ; 
this ehurch does not try to convert people, for the reason it has 
nothing to offer to an intelligent mind ; so destruction and the in- 
vention of falserumours are some of the methods it adopts : such was 
the case now ; they alarmed the King, who sent out detachments of 
troops to meet and find where the great army of Lollards were, 
as the priests had stated, and who were going- to march on London, 
cure and kill the clergy, the King and all his family, but it had the 
effect of alarming the King, and country ; and all they found were 
some inoffensive people worshipping God, and they brought in about 
seventy of these, who were tried as Lollards. 

About thirty of these were executed on the spot, being drawn 
and hanged as traitors, and then burnt, one of which was Sir 
Thomas Acton. 



ENGLAND. I 97 

To be a Christian at this time was to be guilty of treason. And 
again they took the good Lord Cobham, taken by treachery, and 
brought back to London, sentenced to be hanged and to be burned 
hanging, which means to be roasted a]i\-e : he was brought from the 
tower on the day of execution, drawn on a hurdle through the 
streets of London to the place of execution. Iron chains put 
around him, suspended in the air, the fire lighted, and^hCj went 
through the torture, praising and blessing God to the latest moment. 

Henry V, urged on by the priests, carried war into France ; he 
met with great success, but at the expense of the lives of a great 
many Frenchmen. So while the King was killing Frenchmen in 
France, the priests were burning Lollards at home, and the bishops 
who were making religion treason are now with the King, where 
neither kings or popes have any power ovt-r others, but have to ac- 
count for themselves. 

The King died August 31, 1422, and his son Henry VL a child 
about nine months old, was heir to the kingdom ; during this reign 
and also of Henry VH, important wars were going on all over Eu- 
rope ; the wars of the roses kept England in strife and bloodshed. 
Amidst it all, important laws were made to curtail the power of the 
pope. 

The stake at Smithfield and other places were burning the Loll- 
ards, until we find ourselves at the opening of the reign of Henry 
Vni, which took place in 150Q, he being 18 years of age. 

The reformers had gathered great strength in England, quietly 
but surely ; the Bible was doing its work. 

When God intends to bring about a grand reformation in the 
world, He begins by sending the Bible. It has been so in Scotland, 
France, Germany, and other places ; it begun with England. 

Tlie Bible societies of to-day publish it in about 150 languages, 
and they are now sent broadcast all over the world ; a testament can 
be bought in England for two cents, and in America for five cents, 
also a Bible for twenty-five cents : it comes within the reach of all. 



198 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

How different the cost in England in Wycliffe's time ; his testa- 
ment was in manuscript form ; it cost nearer three pounds sterling; 
about fifteen dollars. Few but the rich could have a copy, still it was 
the wedge that opened the eyes of the people and a hundred 3'ears 
latea", Tyndale's printed copy could be bought for three shillings and 
sixpence, about 88 cents. The Bible had been in England all these 
centuries, but it was locked up by being written in Latin ; few but 
priests could read it ; the people were forbidden it. 

In the fifteenth century comes this cheep edition, and neither fire, 
sword or anything else could stop it. 

Cardinal Wolsey was on the scene thfen, and he and the bishop of 
London found out the fact that the curate of all Hallows (a parish in 
London) had received a great many copies, and had some yet in 
his house. Officers were sent onl}'^ to learn Garret, the curate, had 
gone to Oxford, to make sale for his heretical books. Officers 
were sent to Oxford to take, and burn, not only the books, but Gar- 
ret also, as soon as they could be found. 

Here is what seems a just retribution in the fact the books were 
distributed among the students of the very college Wolsey was in- 
strumental in building, and the men he had appointed in the uni- 
versity to stud}^ popery had seen and read this book, and had be- 
come convinced of its truth. 

With what a jealous eye Wolsey, with the bishops, had watched 
tor this Bible, to keep it out of all hands, and when he found it was 
over the college, as well as Oxford, a dreadful feeling came over 
him, that the city was as good as lost ; but summar\' measures 
must be taken, and at once ; so a large number of doctors and stu- 
dents were arrested, besides canons and monks, so eager had they 
all been to see the truth, and these men were put into a dark, damp 
prison, in a cellar below the building of the college. 

The air was foul and putrid, and these young doctors and scholars 
were left to breathe the fetid air and endure great misery. We at 



KNGLAND. 



199 



this distance of time can hardly understand why one man should 
have such power for harm, but so it was. The King, Henry VIII, 
cared little for his subjects' welfare, and as long as this did not inter- 
fere with his pleasures, the lives or liberties of a score or more of his 
subjects was of no consequence to him, especially as he was a 
Roman Catholic, and of course hersesy, as Wolsey called it, ought 
to be suppressed. 

And these men, after enduring confinement in this horrid place 
and losing their health, were tbrc^d to do public penance. A great 
fire was built, and these accomplished students were to march to it 
with a fagot of wood on their shoulders and throw the fagot and the 
Bible each into the fire, after which they were sent back to their 
foul prison. 

The church of Rome has a very unenviable history ; they are 
afraid to let their people know much about it ; they hide it by false 
pretences : and to know how ignorant they kept them on matters of 
history, we have onl\- to listen to the statements frequently made 
w^hen spoken to about Protestantism ; man}- will tell you it begun 
with Henry VIII, and his establishing the church of England was the 
whole cause of the reformation and the beginning of Protestanism ; 
many think it was confined to England onl}-, by making such state- 
ments as these ; their priests carry out two points ; one is, it keeps 
their people ignorant of that deep humiliation the papacy had to sus- 
tain in continental Europe by the great protest, and it also fans that 
hatred the priests are always sowing between the Protestants (especi- 
ally English) and themselves. This will be a good opportunity of 
putting this question before some of those that do not understand it 
fully. 

The memory of Henry VIII is an3'thing but pleasant : we despise 
and condemn his treatment of his wives ; we think the divorce of his 
first wife a wicked act, still God brought good out of this evil, for by 
his marriage with Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth came upon the 



200 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

scene, and gave Protestantism to England; still, Henry \'III was a 
great king in many things ; he was, unfortunately, a believer in 
popery, also in the Divine right of kings, and was, through his ad- 
visers, tied to the pope, from whose tyranny the people of England 
were groaning to be delivered. 

His most subtle advisor was tor a long time Cardinal Wolsev. 

The King had married his brother's widow. Catharine, bv a dis- 
pensation from the pope, 3-et he was reminded it was not legal to 
marry one so near, but he disregarded all advice, until he found by 
disease it would be impossible to have an heir ; he applied to the 
Archbishop of Canterbury for advice, and the primate, and all the 
bishops in the Kingdom, save Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, declared 
under their hands and seals, that the^' deemed the King's mar- 
riage unlawful. Wolsev also sustained the King's scruples, and 
these were now quickened bv a violent passion he had conceived for 
Anne Bole^^n, who was j'oung and beautiful and of noble birth, and 
this determined him to applv to Pop*' Clement for a divorce. 

It is easil}- seen by the account so far given that Henrv VHI was 
not the beginning of the Protestant movement ; in fact, he only 
used it as a means to forward his own schemes ; beyond that he had 
nothing to do with it, but he stood as the only block in the way, for 
had he been a Protestant, the success of the movement would have 
been at once accomplished. 

Wolsey also had another motive for the divorce. The Emperor 
Charles ^", of Spain, had twice promised him the tiara, and both 
times he broke his promise by giving it to another, so he wanted 
to humble the Emperor and separate England iVom Spain ; Qiieen 
Catherine being a relative of the Emperor, the divorce would dis- 
grace him ; there were clher actors on the stage 

In this same year, 1527, one of the Royal secretaries was sent to 
Rome to request the pope to declare Henry's marriage with 
Catherine void. The messenger found the Pope Clement VII in the 



ENGLAND. 20 [ 

castle of St. Angelo, he having- fled from the soldiers of Charles V, 
who had just sacked the city for the pope's duplicity with him. But 
in order to fully understand this we must retrace our steps. 

Protestantism, which had been embraced by all the countries on 
the continent, beginning in GermauA' with L-uther, had so alarmed 
the pope, that he became tirmly (as was supposed) allied with the 
Emperor to stamp out this heresy as they called it. Two years pre- 
vious, 1525, saw the armies of the Spanish and French face to face 
under the walls of Pavia, a strongly fortified place, and had held out 
against the French for two months. 

The Spanish garrison, reduced to extremity, sallied forth and 
joined battle with the beseiger.'?, and fought with the energy of de- 
spair. The French arm}^ was defeated. Ten thousand lay dead on 
the field, and the French king was taken prisoner and sent to 
Madrid in Spain, where he, Francis I, was kept for a year in 
wretched captivity. 

This very much elated the Emperor, and made him the first mon- 
arch in Europe ; at the erjd of the year he released the French king, 
having made satisfactory treaties with him, as he thought, one which 
was that he should help to crush out this heresy — this Lutherism. 

The Emperor was at this time on good terms with the King of 
England, he offering his services to crush out these poor men that 
dared to have a conscience of their own, and that wanted to serve 
God according to his own plan, as given by the apostles. 

So the hour was now come, as Charles V thought, to begin ; he 
never felt so strong ; France no longer a hindrance but an ally in 
this cause. 

What had he to do but crush these Wittemberg heretics ? As to 
Pope Clement, he was doing his work. So everything was in their 
favor. 

But there was one power they had not thought of. They did not 
seem to remember there was a God in hea\en watcliincr over the 



202 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

flock he had raised. Many of these poor hearts seemed to fear the 
storm that was surely hemming them in. If help came it must come 
from him, for there was nothing earthly they could rely on. 

And Luther, where was he amid these storms, these bulls of ex- 
communication from the pope, also these threatenings from kings 
and the Emperor? What answer did he return them all? did he 
surrender? No ! I he was a man of prayer ; not prayers read in an 
ostentatious manner, dressed in long robes and written by some one 
else in a large cathedral and done as a mere matter of form, but he 
prayed the prayer of faith, conscious of his God listening to him in 
his closet, alone, shut away from the world, remembering that pray- 
ers in secret are rewarded openly ; he asked, no doubt, God to di- 
rect him in everything; and the consequence was, he took Catherine 
Von Bora by the hand, led her to the altar and married her — a re- 
formed nun. The Bible had opened her eyes and set her free. Oh ! I 
such a shout of indignation arose. It staggered many, people being 
such slaves to the church, even his best friends could not throw off 
all at once the shackles the church had built around them. What 
dreadful heresy !! some said. What: to do that which God had 
commanded, to marry a respectable woman, and one that had 
thrown oft^the ties a wicked church had imposed on her? And that 
pattern of purity, Henry VIII, of England, called it incest. He 
thought it nothing to be divorced from a good woman and blast her 
life, and then to marry others and to behead them, but this act of 
Luther's, oh, horrid ! Well, the stake, sword or some other means 
will soon finish them. Will it ? Read this answer from Luther in 
this wedding. " Ye kings, pope, Emperor, to all 3'our bulls and 
preparations for their destruction and tremble I for this is not done 
without the consent of their Heavenly Father. 

Well, help did come, and from the hand least expected. Aswe 
said above, the emperor had become first man, the pope second. 



ENGLAND. 203 

For several centuries the popes held dominion over all, but now 
the papacy was lowered and monarchy was lifted up. The pope 
was jealous of the Spanish power in Italy, Charles possessed Naples, 
and this victory of Pavia gave him a footing in Lombardy, so the 
pope was hemmed in. 

The Italians were now tasting the spirit of liberty from the spread 
of Protestantism, and desired to shake off their foreign masters ; the 
pope knew this, and thinking it a good time for restoring the papacy 
at the expense of the Spanish empire, made overtures to France, 
England, Venice, Milan and the republic of Florence. 

These parties, afraid of the great power of Spain, made a league 
against Charles V, known as the Holy League, and the King of 
England was put at the head of it. And so the pope turned against 
the emperor, broke all his treaties with him, and sent his army into 
the Duchy of Milan to commence war against the Spaniards. 

It may seem strange to us now that all this power so determined 
on one object, namely, to crush the Protestants, did not begin at once 
their deadly work ; but the Protestants had become so formidable 
that it was as well to see what a diet could do ; one had been ordered 
at Augsburg, and had met in November 1525, but being so thinly 
attended it was adjourned and now met at Spires June 25, 1526. and 
to see the Protestant princes coming in from all parts, with their ban- 
ners flying and the motto on their vStandards "The Word of God !" 
This did not look like crest-fallen men. They had something within 
that gave them courage. They remembered tlie promises given in 
that Bible their enemies were not only neglecting but trying to 
destroy. 

The first request of the Protestants at Spires was for a church to 
preach in. What, a church to preach heresy in? No ! So Rome 
locked up the churches. Have we not met to crush you, and do you 
want to preach this Lutherism under our very faces? So the 
Protestant princes having their chaplins with them opened tlieir 



294 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

hotels, and it is thought as mariA' as eight thousand met to hear one 
sermon, and the cit}- churches at their mass were quite deserted. 
Still it was a serious time for the Protestants and the}' had need to 
pray for help. And as the diet proceeded with the usual 
pompous forms of the clergy, the proceedings were going in 
favor of the Protestants, and thev brought in their counter-charges, 
requiring certain reforms. 

It is not the purpose to give details of this council here. The pur- 
pose being to show the duplicity of the leading characters in this 
divorce business. 

A letter was received from the emperor informing the Catholic 
princes that he was about to go to Rome to be crowned, and that he 
would consult with the pope about the calling of a general council, 
and he willed and commanded that thev should pass no law contrary 
to the ancient customs and ceremonies of the church. 

Here was a pretty high handed way of doing things. Why call a 
council if emperors or pope will what shall be done : what could be 
expected in those days, or at anytime when an eccleastical court was 
called to decide on such a question? Here was a terrible blow to 
the reformers, but just at that moment Providence steps in. A voice 
is heard that the pope had quarrelled with the emperor and had com- 
menced hostilities against him. 

It was scarcely believed at first, but afterwards came details of the 
above league the pope had formed against the emperor with the King 
of England at the head. 

The Protestants felt as many nations have felt, mentioned in the 
Bible, who trusted in the God of heaven and earth that their cause 
was safe from that hour. 

But how about the emperor? His rage was great, he collected a 
huge army, left for a time the reformers, crossed the Alps and 
marched on as soon as possible and set down before the gates of 
Rome in the following iNIav. 



ENGLAND. 205 

This was the last place the pope expected to see an army ; he, the 
great instigator of wars, cared not on who the horrors fell, but to 
come to Rome was the last tliought of this infallible man ; so to siive 
himself he became a selt'-made prisoner. 

They tried to make terms with him but he would not surrender. 
He flew to the castle of Angelo to save himself from an angry army, 
leaving his flock, poor deluded creatures, to their mercy. Rev. J. A. 
Wylie says: "What a surprise to a city which, full o^ banqueting 
and songs and all manner of delights, living carelessly and never 
dreaming that war would approach it, yet here were the spoilers at 
the gates. 

Next morning, under cover of a dense fog, the soldiers approached 
the walls, the scaling ladders were fixed, and in a few hours the 
troups were masters of Rome. 

A little while did the soldiers rest on their arms till the pope should 
come to terms. Clement hower, scouted the idea of surrender ; he 
expected deliverance every moment from the arms of the Holy 
League. 

The patience of the troops was soon exhausted and the sack 
begun. 

We cannot even at this distance of time, relate the awful tragedy 
without a shudder. 

The constable, Bourbon, had perished in the first assault, and the 
army was left without any leader powerful enough to restrain the in- 
dulgenoe of its passions and appetites. 

What a city of spoil. There was not at that era another such on 
earth. At its feet the ages had laid their gifts. Its beautv was per- 
fect. 

Whatever was rare, curious or precious in the world was gathered 
into it. It was ennobled by the priceless monuments of antiquity ; it 
was enriched with the triumphs of recent genius and art; the o-lory 
lent it by Michael Angelo, the pencil of Raflaelle and the tastes of 



2o6 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

munificence of Leo X were yet fresh upon it. It was full to overflow- 
ing with the riches of all Christendom which for centuries had been 
flowing into it through a hundred avenues. Dispensations, pardons, 
I'ubilees, pilgrimages, annats, palls and contrivances innumerable. 

But the hour had now come to her that spoiled and was not 
spoiled. The hungry soldiers flung themselves upon the prey. In 
a twinkling there burst over the sacerdotal city a mingled temptest 
of greed and rage, of lust and bloodthirsty vengeance. 
The pillage was unsparing as pittiless. 

The most secret places were broken open and ransacked. Even 
the torture was employed in some cases upon prelates and princes 
of the church, to make them disgorge their wealth. 

Not only ware the stores of the merchants, the buillion of the 
banker and the boards of the usurer plundered, the alters W'ere 
robbed of their vessels and the churches of their tapestry and votive 
offerings. 

The tombs were rifled, the relics of the canonized were spoile^ 
and the very corpses of the popes w^ere stripped of their rings and 
ornaments. The plunder was piled up in heaps in the market places, 
gold and silver cups, jewels sacks of coin, pyxes, rich vestments, 
and the articles were gambled for by the soldiers who, with abun- 
dance of wine and meat at their command, made wassail in the midst 
of the stricken and bleeding city. 

Blood, pillage and grim pleasantries were strangely ahd hideously 
mixed. Things and persons which the Romans accounted holy, the 
soldiers took delight in exposing to ridicule, mockery and outrage. 
The Pontifical ceremonial was exhibited in mimic pomp. Camp 
boys were arrayed in cope and stole and chasuble as it they were 
going to consecrate. 

Bishops and cardinals in some cases stripped nude, in others 
attired in fantastic dress, were mounted on asses and lean mules, 
their faces turned to the animals' croups, and led through the streets 



ENGLAND. 207 

while ironical cheers greeted the unwelcome dignitj^ to which they 
had been promoted. 

The pope's robes and tiara were brought forth and put upon a 
lansquenet, while others of the soldiers, donning the red hats and 
purple gowns of the cardinals, went through the form of a Pontifical 
election. 

The mock-condare having traversed the city in the train of the 
pseudo pope, halted before the castle of St. Angelo, and there they 
deposed Clement VII and elected Martin Luther in his room. 

'Never,' says D'Aubique, 'had pontiff been proclaimed with such 
perfect unanimity.' 

The Spanish soldiers were more embittered against the ecclesias- 
tics than the Germans were, and their animosity, instead of evapo- 
rating in grim humor and drollery like that of their Tramontane 
comrades, took a practical and deadly turn. 

Not content with rifling their victims of their wealth, thev made 
them in man}' cases pay the forfeit of their lives. 

Some of the church dignataries expired in their hands, in the 
midst of cruel tortures. They spared no age, rank or sex. "Most 
piteous," says Guicciardini, "were the shrieks and lamentations of 
the wQmen of Rome, and no less worthy of compassion the deplor- 
able conditions of nuns and novices, whom the soldiers drove along 
by troops out of their convents, that the might satiate their brutal 
lusts." 

Amid this female wail were mingled the ho-arser, clamors and 
groans of unhappy men, whom the soldiers subjected to torture, 
partly to wrest from them unreasonable ransom, and parti}- to com- 
pel the disclosure of the goods which they had concealed. 

The sack of Rome lasted ten days. "It was reported" says Guic- 
cardini, "that the booty taken might be estimated at a million of 
ducats, but the ransoms of the prisoners amounted to a far larger 
sum." The number of victims from 5,000 to 10,000. 



208 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The population on whom this terrible caUimity tell were upon the 
testimony of their own historians, beyond measure emasculated by 
effiminacy and vice. Vetton describes them as proud, avaricious, 
murderous, envious, luxurious and hypocritical. 

"There were then in Rome," says Ranke, "30,000 inhabitants 
capable of bearing arms, many of them had seen service. But 
though they wore arms by their side, there was neither braver}- nor 
manhood in their breasts. 

Had they possessed a spark of courage, they might have stopped 
the enemy in his advance to the city, or chased him from their 
walls after he appeared. 

This stroke fell on Rome in the very prime of her mediaeval glory. 
The magnificence then so suddenh' and terrible smitten has never 
revived. A few days sufficed to well nigh annihilate a splendor 
which centui'ies were needed to bring to perfection, and which the 
centuries that have since elapsed, have not been able to restore. 
Rev. J. A. Wylie, His. of Protestantism, vol. I, page 531 and 532. 

In viewing the above facts, does it not show that sin always meets 
its own reward, beginning in this life ? They had just reaped what 
they had sown. Here was a great power, pretending to guide the 
religious morals of the world, but had done nothing but deceive, rob 
and abuse everybody, demoralizing the nations, and ready with fire 
and sword and every available means to crush out those that were 
trying to reform this awful state of things. 

And it shows how popular the Lutherans had become with the 
soldiers, in that mock election of the pope. The priests and cardi- 
nals had thought nothing in the past, of marching the children of 
God, under the stigma of heretic, 10 the stake, but now their own 
weapons were turned against them, and they were invited to a re- 
past of their own invention. Truly this seems a just retribution, and 
this so-called church, instead of educating the people in a secular or 
spiritual sense, pleasures of all kinds had been taught, and most of 



ENGLAND. 209 

ihem of a doubtful character, and which reduced the men to such an 
abject state, they had not courage to defend their own homes. 

Had this been the Turk thundering at their doors, who was then 
powerful, or an}^ other power opposed to them in religious views, it 
would not seem so strange. The soldiers were of their own church, 
but by their actions, proved their contempt for a service that had 
been forced on them by fraud and imposition, and which thousands 
of them would be glad to secede trom, and not onl}- in that time, 
but to-da}', if the proper instruction were only given, and if you 
could divest them of the fear that these so-called priests have cun- 
ningl)- grafted on them and of which they have no power of en- 
forcing. 

But this brought a three years' calm ; the troubles of the political 
world brought peace to the Protestants (the real church.) Th^'y 
were sheltered under the wings of the Almighty, while these great 
leaders were engaged among themselves, in intrigues and battles, 
and as long as this state of things lasted the gospel had rest. 

The way was being prepared for a new sj'stem built on the ruins 
ot the old. This rage that had been stirred up, fell among them- 
selves ; the powers seemed to be so strangely balanced, and tearful 
of each other. And when the messenger was sent from England in 
1527, as mentioned before, to the pope to grant the divorce, he knew 
not what plan to adopt. He was afraid to further ofl'end Charles V 
by annulling his aunt's marriage with the King of England, and on 
the other hand, he dare not refuse Henry VHI, to whom he had but 
lately granted the title of defender of the faitli. 

The Emperor Charles had only just learned trom Catherine tl.e 
Queen, what Henry VHI demanded from the Dope ; his indignation 
was great, but he was afraid to thwart the King, whose alliance was 
so much needed now, since this league was formed to drive him out 
of Italy. 

Still, should he consent, his aunt would be sacrificed, and his 
family disgraced. 



2IO WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

But he decided to save the famil\- honor, at every cost, so he 
sent to Rome, promising to release the pope from confinement on 
condition he would refuse the king's divorce. 

Which shall the pope oblige ; Charles V or Henry of England ? 

He at once, with the usual deception, would not decide for either, 
but played one against the other, and by this means thought to 
escape trom his prison, and once more mount his throne, but cir- 
cumstances caused the pope to disguise himself and escape, and he 
went to Orrieto and took up his abode in one of the old tenements. 
The envo3'S followed him there and demanded two things. 

One was the appointment of a commission to try the divorce case 
in England, and the other to grant a dispensation empowering King 
Henry to marr}' again as soon as the divorce was pronounced. 

The king offered the pope assistance, riches, armies, crown and 
even life, while the penalty" of refusing was to be the separation of 
England from the pope. So the pope was placed between the Em- 
peror with his army still in Itah', and Henr\r VHI, after repeated 
attempts to dupe the agents, both the commission and the dispensation 
was given, but with tears on ihe part of the pope, that they should not 
be acted on until the Spaniards had been driven out of Italy. 

The French army was in Italy engaged in the attempt to expel the 
Spaniards from the Peninsula, and the pope seeing this a chance of 
escape, refused to permit the King of England to act on the com- 
mission he had gi^'en, till the French were under the walls of Orrieto. 

This would furnish him a pretext for sa\-ing to Chai'les that he 
gave it under compulsion, and when these commissions arrived, the 
king tound them to be worthless — only fit to be burned — this 
angered much the king. 

x\nd now Wolsey thought he saw an opening to ;ivenge himself on 
the Emperor for not giving him the popedom, so he managed to get 
England to join France in declaring war against Spain on the 21st 
January, 1528; he also, in this way, made an opening for the pope 
to grant the divorce by weakening Ciiarles. 



ENGLAND. 211 

The cardinal also proposed to add the excommunication of the 
Emperor, who would also lose his throne for refusing the papal 
chair to Wolsley, and so the plot thickened, duplicity upon du- 
plicity, until the eyes of Henry VIII were opened, and he felt the 
time was come to separate his crown and country from the pope, 
and take the whole matter into his own hands. 

As we look over these things, how dreadful it seems. One man 
calling himself the Vicar of Christ, another defender of the faith, 
another the first son of the church, and Wolsey looking after his 
own interests, the whole of Europe, engaged through this so-called 
church, in strife and carnage, and all brought about b}' the evil 
passions of these rulers pretending to be doing the work of the 
Lord, and all of them waiting to commence a fresh and diabolical 
action by exterminating the best of their subjects, the Protestants, 
as soon as their evil passion could allow them sufficient time to rest 
from their own affairs. Sureh^ this is a piteous spectacle; this is 
playing with religion with a vengeance : no wonder the saints would 
cry out, " Oh Lord, how long will this man of sin be allowed to 
occupy and disturb the earth ? " 

And this is only a specimen of how the world has been disturbed 
ever since popery has had dominion, and always will, as long as she 
is permitted to have a voice. For the wicked are like the troubled 
sea, always casting up mire and dirt. And so the king of England 
found out Wolsey's intrigues in matters that touched him at home 
as well as abroad, dismissed him, to his utter ruin and earlv death. 

And the king, backed by the better class of English, washed his 
hands o( the pope, and he has never gained his foothold there skice, 
but for a short time, and that under much blood and suffering. And 
let us hope and pray he never will, although he is trying hard 
through the church of England to regain what he has lost, and what 
hti ought never to have had. 



2 ] 2 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL ? 

Although details have not been given of the great protest in Ger- 
many, and its results in other places, sufficient has been said to show 
that it did not begin in England, as many priests have told their 
people it did. Except perhaps as the fruits of Wycliffe's Bible being 
given to the English nation in the Fourteenth Centur\', and later 
editions in the times of which we are now writing. And before this 
chapter is closed, it would be well to state a few of the outrages that 
have been done to the Bible, as well as to its readers, and at the 
same time to show how this church that calls itself christian has, in 
the education of their 3-oung priests and others, ignored the only 
book that could give them any right to that title. 

The writer has had a great many interviews with Catholics, with 
the object of winning them over to the truth ; good has been done in 
some cases, but in others the ground was so hardened by superstition 
that it seemed impossible to penetrate, and such answers as these 
would be given, "We are in a free country and can worship as we 
please." But these answers came as if they were entitled to some 
merit for the religious freedom of the country. 

We take from history a few pictures of church freedom, and ask 
these Catholics or any others, how they would like to go back to the 
customs of the dark ages, and have such delightful freedom as this 
church would give us. 

The pope had established such a tyrann}^ over the churches of 
Europe, by such miserable pretences as the holy chair, the vicar of 
Jesus, the infallibility of the pope, the apostolic succession, and a 
host of other devices, having their origin in paganism ; his word 
was law ; no one dared to think aloud against his laws which were 
being constantly changed, and which brought money into tiie church 
and consequently poverty to the people. Everything must be done 
according to his will and pleasure. 

He strictly forbade anyone to read the Scriptures, so that no one 
knew the law of God ; he bound the priests and bishops by such 
severe oaths that they were almost as great slaves as the people. 



ENGLAND. 213 

He brought forth so many devices to rob all of their money, annats 
i^eservation, tithes (double and treble), amulets, dispensations, par- 
dons, rosaries, relics, all these inventions of man were not the food 
Christ told his apostles to feed his sheep and lambs on. 

Paul said, "how can we hear without a preacher?" They pre- 
tented to preach it is true, but had no Bible to preach from, so when 
they went into a pulpit, and very few dared to do so in those days, 
they cracked a joke and made the people laugh. It may be about 
as good as to preach in Latin ; they would rehearse a fable, give 
them a legand or two, a jest. 

If they gave a text it was not selected from the Bible, but from 
Aristotle, Thomas, Aguinas or from Scotus ; here was rich food for 
the soul ! About as good as a sermon in a Catholic church and 
printed in the morning papers here a few years since, it said the 
church was full, and the priest about dismissing the people, told them 
as thev had all gone through the forms of the church, that they were 
all Holy I All Holy ! perhaps not five, mavbe not one of that mixed 
people understood what is meant by the word being Holy. It is certain 
the so-called priest did not or he would not have made the statement 
in such a loose and general way. Is it not dreadful to send these 
people awav under such circumstances, and perhaps to spend the rest 
of the day in breaking the Sabbath, perhaps some getting drunk? 
But to return — It is said that the priests of that day in some places, 
seemed as if they were paid to keep silent ; they were a great many 
of them, but very few could preach. 

Musculas says: "Many of them never saw the Scriptures in all 
their lives." 

The Archbishop of Maize, looking into a Bible said of a truth "I 
do not know what book this is, but I perceive everything in it is 
against us." 

With what different eyes people look on the Bible. The skeptic 
looks and reads with a prejudiced mind, and comes away more 
doubtful than ever. The infidel looks to find God, as a God of love 



214 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

only, and not having the divine love in his own heart, can see nothing" 
but an angry God, and so he is dissatisfied. The athiest sees nothing 
to satisfy him at all, and so he shuts the book. 

How different the real christian with his mind illuminated by the 
Holy Ghost ; nothing delights him more than his Bible ; it feeds his 
soul. In every word from beginning to end he sees something that 
relates to himself. A kind promise trom a loving Father ; it fills his 
heart with delightful hope, not onl}' for this life but for the one to 
come. 

How different the popes have looked on it ; it spoils their pleasure, 
condemns every act of their lives, hardens their hearts, breeds what 
they call heresy, and so they have constantly waged war against it. 
Many of the popes and priests have never read it. 

To one pope in particular, Leo X, A. D. 1513. When poperj^ was 
at its greatest glor}^ and he the most magnificent of them all, to him 
the book was nothing, and yet he pretended to be the Vicar of Christ. 
He once said to an ambassador sent from France, the bishop of 
Meaux, "What a profitable affair this fable of Christ has been to 
us." Here was a man rioting in riches, luxuries, voluptuous 
delights, his home filled with pictures, statutes, courtiers, bufibons, 
dancers and everj'thing that wealth could produce, taken from super- 
stitious people by so many falsehoods. He the supposed head of the 
christian church, calling the sufferings of our beloved Master, a 
fable ! ! Yes, he might do so, amid the pleasures of the Vatican, 
but perhaps, even he, in the quiet hours of the night, might hear that 
never dying conscience speaking in a voice small at present, but 
which would one day speak to him in tones of thunder. 

And so these arrogant popes have undertaken the impossible task 
of stopping the word of God, and it has been the policy of this so- 
called church from the commencement, and as long as the power 
was in their hands they, by outrages, partly succeeded. 

However, there never was a time when it was not the light of 



ENGLAND. 215 

some township, village or community, but the vengeance of this 
church was drawn on these harmless people, even to utter extermi- 
nation. But as soon as its usefulness was stopped in one place, it 
sprung up in another, and the carnage had to be repeated. 

And what good has it done to this confederacy, but to bring the con- 
tempt and pity of all good hearts against them. Are not the Bibles 
filling the whole earth, exposing them everywhere, and is not this 
man of sin being revealed every day and this once great power, 
now dependent upon the King of Italv, and will not the present plot- 
tings be overthrown? God has said he will put it in men's hearts to • 
do so, and what reward will it brincj but destruciion, now and for- 
ever? Beware I I 

And in cardinal Wolsey's time in England, wlien it was found the 
new Testament had been sold in many places, the bishop of London 
gave money to buy up all the copies they could find. And when 
collected they made a public parade at St. Paul's cross, and there 
had the Word of God committed to the flames ; it was the means of 
increasing the circulation, to the confusion of its enemies, for the 
monev given to buy these books was made a good use of in printing 
a much larger quantity, (tor the printing press was now in use) and 
so these enemies of God found the task had become beyond their 
power, and as they could not wholly destroy it, it remains to be the 
means of their own destruction. This is how the days of the papacy 
had been spent : not only burning Bibles, but all books that were 
written for the good of the people, and trving to put in their place the 
useless books of saints. Virgin Marv, and such like. We have had 
even lately in free America and Canada, the same sickening spectacle 
of an ignorant and fanatical priesthood collecting and burning the 
Bible, and this is how Catholics are educated. D. Fulton says, 
"They often enlarged upon the evil tendency of that book, and told 
us that, but for it, many a soul now condemned to hell and sutTering 
eternal punishment, might have been in happiness. 



2l6 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

They could not say anything in its favor, for that would be speak- 
ing in their opinion, against the religion and against God. 

In the catechism taught the children are these questions : 

Qiiestion. Wh}- did not God make all the commandments? 

Answer. Because man is not strong enough to keep them. 

Qiiestion. Wh}' are not men to read the New Testament? 

Answer. Because the mind of man is to limited and weak to 
understand \\hat God has written. 

These questions are not in the common catechism, but all the 
children in the Congregational Nunner^" were taught them, and man\' 
more not found in these books."' — Fultons" Whv Priests Should Wed, 
page 154 and 155. 

This is one of the reasons why the}' want separate schools to teach 
the children of the countr}-, to neglect God's word ; and another is to 
teach these poor, dear children to think more of this paganism, with 
the pope at its head than thev do of the government, and when we see 
new school houses going up in connection with their churches ever\-- 
where, it looks as if they were acting in defiance, and taking advantage 
of our mild go^'ernment. The\- cannot do this in France or Italy, or 
scarceh' in auA- place in Europe, for the schools l^a^■e been taken out 
of their hands. The go\'ernments are tired of rearing anv more 
children under such circumstances. But this subject will appear in 
another place. 

"The church of Rome claims the exclusive right to interpret Scrip- 
tures according to popish ideas ; indi\idual believers have no right what- 
ever to form for tliemseh'es opinions as to the meaning of the Bible. 
In religious matters thev ha\"e no right to think. It is their dut\' to 
believe and to obey. It is the exclusive right of the sovereign pontiff' 
to think and to command. 

God has indeed given all men reason and conscience, but the\' nvdv 
not use them except according to papal rule. The pope pretends to 
give to the word of God. all the authoritv it can possess. Without 



ENGLAND. 217 

his sanction it has no bindino" tbrce. He can abro<>'ate the hiws of the 
creator. He can dechire the commands of Christ of no effect. 

If God should speak in an audible voice from heaven, we would 
not be required to obe}' unless the pope endorsed the command. 
Nay, the case is even worse. For the spiritual despot in the Eternal 
City has actualh- forbidden his subjects to read or even possess the 
will of heaven revealed for our salvation. The bull of May 8, 1844, 
contains this remarkable prohibition : 

" MOREOVER, WE CONFIRM AND RENEW THE DE- 
CREES RECITED ABOVE, DELIVERED IN FOR.MER 
TIMES BY APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY AGAINST THE 
PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, READING AND POS- 
SESSION OF BOOKS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES TRANS- 
LATED INTO THE VULGAR TONGUE. " 

Thus an erring creature presumes to tell the King of heaven that 
he may not make known his will to his own creatures. 

Has not Romanism exalted itself above all that is called God ? 

In entire consistency, this system of iniquity has denounced the 
American Bible Society as a most crafty device, shaking the founda- 
tions of religion, a pestilence, a defilement of the faith most emin- 
ently dangerous to souls. 

Again, it is greatly feared that Bible societies will, by a perverse 
interpretation, turn Christ's gospel, or, what is wor.-e still, into a 
gospel of the devil. In a letter dated June 26, 1816, and addressed 
to the Primate of Poland, Pius VII said: "IT IS EVIDENT 
FROM EXPERIENCE, THAT THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, 
WHEN CIRCULATED IN THE VULGAR TONGUE HAVE, 
THROUGH THE TEMERITY OF MEN, PRODUCED MORE 
HARM THAN BENEFIT; WARN THE PEOPLE EN- 
TRUSTED TO YOUR CARE THAT THEY FALL NOT 
INTO THE SNARES PREPARED FOR THEIR EVER- 
LASTING RUIN. " In the nineteenth centur\- lancfuag-e such as 



2l8 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

this falls from lips claiming superior sanctity and even supernatural 
guardianship. 

It our versions are so shockingly dangerous, and that, too, when 
simple translations, without note or comment are printed, one would 
suppose they would industriously circulate a translation of their own. 
Instead oi doing so, however, this proposition : it is useful and 
necessary to studv the Scriptures one of the popes branded as talse, 
shocking, scandalous, seditious, impious blasphemous I 

It would seem that in the judgment of Rome the Bible is the most 
dangerous book in existence. And yet, strange to say, this immu- 
table, infallible church has, by solemn decree, granted her priests 
the privilege of selling licenses to read God's word. 

Among the ten rules enacted by the Council of Trent, respecting 
prohibited books, we find this : 

" It is referred to the judgement of the bishop, or inquisitors, who 
may, bv the advice of the priest or confessor, PERMIT THE 
READING OF THE BIBLE TRANSLATED INTO THE 
VULGAR TONGUE BY CATHOLIC AUTHORS, TO THOSE 
PERSONS WHOSE FAITH AND PIETY, THEY APPRE- 
HENDED WILL BE AUGMENTED AND NOT INJURED. 
AND THIS PERMISSION THEY MUST HAVE IN 
WRITING. ' 

Thus, God's vicegerent tells him, " We will grant our own sub- 
jects permission to read ^-our message of life if they will pay us tor 
the privilege. " 

Standing between the Creator and the creature, the pope says to 
the former, "You mav not speak to my subjects " ; to the latter, 
" You mav not receive the message of your Maker, unless you have 
the means of purchasing m}- permission. " And even this presump- 
tion is not sustained by Roman logic. 

The pope has the chief power of disposing of the temporal aftairs of 
Christians, in order to their spiritual good. Wealth corrupts men. 



ENGLAND. 219 

B}^ every conceivable mean.s, therefore it should be taken from 
them." Popery the foe of the church, page 109, 10, 11, 12. 

So yays the pope. This latter policy Rome has strictly adhered to, 
in every possible way. 

Witness the poverty and wretchedness of all countries that have 
had tlie misfortune to be under her sway ; she has not only robbed 
the people of their money, but has kept them in a state of slavish 
fear, to the loss of their manhood and all that makes life worth the 
living. We see people coming from couniries that have lived 
nearest to the popish church (and surely if there is anything good in 
Catholicism it ought to show itself in them), but do we find it so, does 
not their life and actioas prove the contrary ? Have they not the 
characteristics of a priest-riden people, or in Biblical language, do 
the}' not carry the marks of the beast ? Have not all countries, over 
which their rule extended, been made the poorest on earth, do we 
not now find the wealth of the world in Protestant countries, as well 
the greatest ease and comtbrt ? and their wealth increases as last 
as they throw oft" the great incubus of popery. 

In tact the world has increased in wealth and happiness more dur- 
ing the last three centuries, dating from Luther's time, and the great 
reformation, tl;an in double or treble that time before. Manv say in 
this age ot improvement, "oh, we are smarter and more of a go-a-head 
people than they used to be. " This is admitted, but there must be a 
cause for every effect. 

, A man is not likely to run so fast with sliackles on as when oft". In 
the olden times, men had not the opportunit^^ nor the disposition to 
advance as now. Tlien everything had to go under the supervision of 
the pope, and his Satellites ; nothing could be done, or anything new 
introduced, if they, an ignorant and wicked priesthood, thought it 
would interfere with the revenues of the church and the servile spirit 
that men were accustomed to show it. Men were afraid to advance- 
were afraid in many cases to have money, or let it be known they 



220 WHY HAVK I'RIKSTS AT ALL.'' 

had it ; the\' knew the rapacious, and greedy hearts of the priests, 
and that {hn\ would carry out the beforementioned phm of the pope, 
namely, to get it from them by every conceivable means. It 
is a poor rule that does not work both ways, therefore this must be 
one of the causes of the corruption of the church; their having so 
much mone}'. 

We ha\'e had more impro\ements during the last one hundred 
years than ever before in two or tlve times that length of time, and 
wh}^? The freedom dated further back, but it takes a good man\- 
generations to make men realh' free, after ha\'ing been ground down 
both in a spiritual and temporal sense. 

We, at this time, can only parth' judge of tlie dreadful lo^v state of 
a societ}' who would tolerate a church dictating and forcing them to 
assist in crushing out the spirit of libert\' in those that diftered trom 
them in their faith, perhaps their own friends and relati\'es, and b\' 
such horrid means that the most cruel pagans have not }-et attempted, 
and when fleeing for their lives from the hated inquisition (called 
holy) they could not receive so much as a cup of cold water from anv 
one without bringing them into danger, and this hated system of 
poper^• was forced on persons who despised its ver^• name. 

How would this style of liberty suit our free born citizens? And 
3'et they are determined, and are perfecting plans to ri\et these de- 
tested chains on us, to some of whom the name of poper\- is nothing 
but a miserable burlesque. 

And as this church of Rome has by every wicked device, includ- 
ing that of wholesale murder, attempted to stay the word of God, I 
say attempted, for she cannot succeed, we rel\' on the promise, " The 
gates of hell shall not prevail," but she has clone great harm, and her 
responsibility is fearful. Still, with all that, the Bible is here and has 
not only come to sta^', but to be her destruction. 

Then let us ask what had that Roman church to ofler in its place? 
At the time when she was all powerful, what did she give in exchange 



ENGLAND. 221 

for the free liberty of the Gospel? That Gospel when illuminated in 
the heart by the Holv Ghost gives such peace, such hope, such 
knovvledgre of the future, there is nothing on earth that will so satisfy 
the longing of the soul as the word of God. It being God's plan, it is 
like everything else he has sent, absoluteh' perfect. God sends ele- 
ments suited to our nature ; the food we eat if taken in proper quanti- 
ties and properly selected, sustains us in health and strength ; the 
water we drink is better for us, than many things a depraved appetite 
wovdd select, and so is this Gospel better than anything man has to 
offer. And if we live according to its precepts, health, strength, 
happiness, long life and even the necessaries of life are promised by 
him who said "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall 
not pass away." 

Well Rome took for a time all this away and gave something else ; 
was the exchange equal? 

We tind by perusing history, instead of peace, the world was con- 
stantly at war. 

This church had her representatives at the courts of the \-arious 
kingdoms, and the jealous feelings of the kings and emperors were 
continualh' worked upon ; everything was done to keep the powers so 
occupied with their personal quarrels and desire for conquest, and 
so artfulh' managed by the diplomacy i)i the pope's legates, that if 
carried out occording to their plans, it would alwa^•s strengthen and 
enrich this earthly church ; quarrels were being constantlv fer- 
mented, and amidst all this confusion and strife the people suffered in 
the loss of life, children made orphans, vvi\'es made widows, towns, 
cities and countries ruined, homes destroyed and the people house- 
less wanderers ; for this church cannot thrive and fatten so well in 
times of peace. Wickedness abounded, men accustomed to war, 
after leaving the army, could not settle down t(j anything, and so 
became highway robbers and worse, and after the pattern of their 
rulers, waging war against society ; e\il of every description grew 



222 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

out of these quarrels, because men's passions were not ruled bv the 
fear of God, as given in his book. 

And then what did Rome offer for the spiritual liglit she liad for 
the time almost eclipsed? 

The enemy of souls, through her, set up a counterfeit for every- 
thing God offered. For the word of God, tradition — and in those 
days it answered, for men were obliged to swallow it against reason. 
In this age we can trace its origin and see what emptv material it 
is made of. For true religion, Phariseeism, which is paganism. 
For the beautiful services of the Lord's supper, the idolatry and 
buftboner}' of the mass. For immediate pardon of sins b\- Christ 
himself, penance and absolution and so create a constant drain on 
the poverty of these already over-tasked people, not only in life, 
but even after death. Jesus said, "this night shall you be witli 
me in paradise," but the pope says, "purgatory at'ter death, pur- 
gatory, and it will depend how long you stay there, upon your 
friends' ability to pay. So pa}-, pay, pa}' from the cradle to the 
grave. The religion of Christ is free, we come without money and 
without price, and accept it by faith, but the pope's plan is b}- the 
works of the law, do something, if it is onl}- counting beads. 
Christ's plan of atonement is the just tor the unjust, and to go 
directly to him. The pope puts himself between man and God, 
the Virgin Mary, Saints and a host of such useless things that 
will be mentioned in other chapters. 

Does not all this look like an agreement to get up a religious 
farce, and to pretend holiness of character by the enemy of souls? 

Who says in effect to the pope, you shall be our servant, to 
carry out all our designs, so that between us both we shall hold 
men in slavery, both body and soul, and the wealth of the world 
is yours ! ! The devil offered Christ this political power and wealth 
and he refused it by saying, "get thee behind me Satan." 



ENGLAND. 223 

We now take up the subject, where we left oft', at the reign of 
Henry VIII. The reformation had taken deep root in Germany, 
France, Switzerland and other places, which had a great effect 
on England. As we before stated, Henry had nothing to do with 
the commencement of the reformation ; he was what is called a good 
Catholic, and had at an earlier date written a book against the doc- 
trines of Martin Luther. He now leaned towards the reformers, as a 
means of humbling the pope ; his divorce was decided in the English 
courts, and he married Anne Boleyn. 

A law was passed which made it treason to deny that the king was 
the svxpreme head on earth of the Church of England. St. Thomas 
More and Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, being Catholics, objected with 
others to this law, and were executed for treason 1535. 

So the king, in his war with the pope, had to stand bv the reform- 
ers, and it helped them greatly, but they were the power that en- 
abled him to make his stand against the pope. 

The pope excommunicated the king, and laid his kingdom under 
interdict, but the day was gone in England for such foolishness. It 
had become treason to e\'en serve such papers on an\one. 

How different to the late King John's time; it then torced him to 
give up his throne and humble the nation, but now it was treated 
with the contempt it deserved, and although the king may not have 
known it, the change in the times was brought about through the 
Bible — a more potent force than popes' excommunication. 

Under the influence of Anne Boleyn, and both houses of Convoca- 
tion, the king ordered the translation of the Bible in Latin and 
Englisli, and that a copy should be placed in every parish church, 
and all men be exorted to read it. 

Anne Boleyn, being on the reformers' side, was hated b\- the 
Roman Catholics, and the)' induced the king to believe in a story of 
her being unfaithlul to him, and she lost her life by the hand of the 
executioner. 



224 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The monasteries, those centers of corruption and wickedness, were 
suppressed in 1536, and in 1538 all were closed. The closing of the 
monasteries gave large sums of money to the king. The Catholics re- 
volted and raised an army of one hundred thousand men, under the 
strange name of the Pilgrimage of Grace, and demanded the res- 
toration of the popish religion, but were defeaicd. Several of the Ab- 
bo's and nobles were put to death. 

The king found great treasures in the Shrine of Becket. The king 
also proceeded to uncanonize him, declaring him no saint, but that 
he had died as a rebel and a traitor. Then comes the fury of 
Pope Paul III. He called upon the people to take up arms against 
the king, and all the princes of Europe were commanded, in 
virtue of their obedience to him, 10 make war and seize his sub- 
jects and make them slaves — all this had no real effect in Eng- 
land, and she was too powerful for the rest. 

The reformers were now too strong, and the sights the country- 
had witnessed in the monasteries had so disgusted the whole nation 
that it exposed the tVauds and corruption of the sj'stem. 

And yet, strange infatuation, the king, after this, could still remain 
a Romanist ; he was at most as great a despot as the pope, and in 
1 54 1 consented to the revocation of the permission to read the 
Bible. The higher classes, or merchants who were householders, 
might read it, but it was forbidden the common people. 

The king's health began to tail, and his time drawing near, he 
made his will, in case of the tailure of hen's, to his son Edward, 
the succession to fall upon his daughter Mary and her heirs, then 
upon his daughter Elizabeth and her heirs. He died on the 28th 
January, 1647. He had reigned nearly' 38 years, and was about 56 
years of age. 

And as we are now on the subject of monasteries, a statement is 
before the writer, in this year of Our Lord, 1891, that to-da}' there 
are in England 364 convents and 200 monasteries. 



ENGLAND. 225 

I will put tf) England the same question Paul put to the Galations, 
in the 3d chapter and ist verse, also 3, 4. "Oh foolish Galations, 
who hath bewitched you, that you should not obe}' the truth ? Are 
ve so foolish, having begun in the spirit, are ve now made perfect 
by the flesh ? have ye suffered so many things in vain ? if it be yet 
in vain. 

The writer being in London about forty years since, more or less 
remembers the great excitement made by the public press against the in- 
troduction into England of a cardinal, Wiseman, who it was reported, 
the pope was going to send. It came on the people suddenly, like a 
thunderstorm ; they had not expected such a calamity, and the 
streets of London were plavcarded with carricatures of this man. 
He was drawn in carts and burned in effigy. The press spoke and 
ridiculed such an unwelcome introduction into England. 

The carts that drew these stuflTed effigies were in the most grotesque 
styles; lie was represented in the character of Guy Fawkes, one of 
the gun powder conspirators, and again as the pope with a long 
pipe in his mouth ; the name of Wiseman being prominent. The 
different drawings that covered the London bill boards were of 
a laughable description ; the people were really in earnest in this mat- 
ter, and at night these effigies were all burned with fire-works. To see 
the procession going through Temple Bar it reminded one of the olden 
times, as represented in the cuts of that da}-, how the old pope, 
passing through the bar, going to be burned in effigy, and also 
of the fires and fireworks of our young days, on the 5th of Nov- 
ember, the anninersary of Gunpowder Plot. The people seemed al- 
most on the verge of a riot, and yet with all this, in opposition to 
the wishes of the people, the cardinal was allowed to remain, or to 
come to England. This has often appeared to the writer as a day 
of visitation for England. Had the Government listened to the 
voice of the people, it is almost certain there would have been no 
monasteries there to-day, and no prospect of an awful struggle to 
clear the country of them once more. 



226 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

" On the death of Henry VIII his son Edward VI, a child of ten 
years of age, was king, a protector being appointed, the Duke of 
Somerset; these were both favorable to the reformed faith, together 
with Archbishop Crammer ; these gave great promise to the coun- 
try ; the reign of Edward VI was a real blessing ; his life was 
short, but many good laws were passed in his time ; his death 
caused universal sorrow among the common people ; he died at 
Greenwich on the 6lh July, 1553. It was thought he was 
poisoned. 

And now comes black night again, in the person of Queen 
Mary, known afterwards as Bloody Queen Mary ; her mind was as 
crooked and deceitful as her person was plain and repulsive. She 
begun by fawning on those she came in contact, but she soon let the 
country know her intention was to suppress the Protestants. 

People that are pla3'ing a part find it necessary to dissemble ; ii is 
always so with false religions. The pupe at this time was anxious 
about securing England, in fact he saw it was the one important 
thing; lose her, and the success of the schemes on the continent of 
Europe would be a failure. And yei, when the country was once 
more likely to be in his grasp notice how he treats the ambassadors 
sentto him from Mary of England on her being made queen ; and 
she one ol the best tools he could tind for his wretched work at this 
time. 

Pope Paul was then occupied in giving an audience to the am- 
bassadors of Queen Mar}-, who were commissioned to take the oath 
of fidelit}' between the hands ot his holiness. 

The English deputies were received in a public consistory, and 
constrained to a humiliating ceremonial. The}' were compelled to 
kiss the feet of the pope, to place themselves before him on their 
knees, and to confess to him in this position, one by one, all the al- 
leged crimes of the English nation against the papacy. 



e:nglani). 227 

They avowed hunibh' that their fellow subjects had paid with in- 
gratitude the kindness of the sovereign pontiff', and they demanded 
absolution for their transgressions. 

Paul, satislied \vith their abasement, then permitted them to rise 
<in(l received the letters of Maiy from them, but he no sooner per- 
ceived, on opening the letter, that the pi-incess styled herself Qiieen 
of England and Ireland, than he fell into a rage, exclaiming that 
their mistress was ver}^ bold to dare to take the title of Qiieen of 
Ireland, wiil-.out the authoritv of the pope, and he at once drove 
them liom the witican." L. M. de Cormenin His. of Popes, page 
228. 

What can we think of such conduct as the above r No amount of 
monev, flattery, deceit or anything this pope could offer would 
have been refused (o Henry VIII, the late king, to have an am- 
bassador sent on the same errand, and yet, now he knows he has 
this silly, superstitious woman in his hands, he can play with her, 
because he knows she will send again. 

Is all tills deception the religion of Christ ? And did the people of 
England endorse such a lumTiliating message ? We answer for the 
bulk of them. No I No ! ! 

"The ambassadors waited tor instructions from England; an 
order soon came from the cowardl}- queen, and fresh approaches 
were made on his holiness, who demanded two hundred thousand 
crowns for his consent to let her live in peace, and ordered that she 
should restore all the property confiscated : and the queen, to make the 
poor subjects pa}- Peter's pence, and it" not done, an interdict would 
issue, and he would show the English that the apostle will not open 
to them the gates of heaven if the\' have the sacreligious audacity 
to retain his patrimony on earth. " L. M. de Cormenin His. of 
Popes, page 232. 

At this time a peace had been signed between the contending 
parties — France, Spain and England — and of which he had not re- 
ceived the full particulars, but a wrong report of the matter. 



228 

And he exclaimed, " 'It is all over with the power of the Hoh' See, 
Germany and England are lost forever to us, and that through the 
fault of the cardinals — those vampires who think only of their own 
private interests, and nothing of that of the papacy ; may the de- 
mons of hell, if there be any, carry them all to hell, with the 
Kings of France and Spain, and with all of my relatives ; may they 
leave upon earth none but people to oppress, Jesuits to defend me and 
dominicans to serve me " '" L. M. de Cormenin His. of Popes, page 
23d. 

Well, what do vou think of this holy man ? This is he that had 
hot chambers built to torture Christians, and had sent forth fresh 
legions of inquisitors everywhere — this is as he says. Christ's vice- 
gerent. If the curtain of his private lite was lifted, it would give the 
back (^round to the picture, and then we could tell from where the 
holiness came — from above or below — but he did not last long to 
curse : he was taken away, hated by all, his death caused a tumult, 
people tore dt)w-n his new prison, burned the palace of the inquisi- 
tors, and at a meeting of citizens they ordered his dead body 
to be draocred on a kurdle and cast into a sink, which ordei was 
very nearly carried out. 

The above petitions from Mary to the pope were not yet made 
known to the people of England, and at the time her ambassadors 
were playing that humble part with the pope, she was giving the 
people encouragement to worship in peace. But no sooner was 
she firmlv seated on the throne, than she begun to undo all her 
father and brother had done. 

One of her first acts was to imprison the Pi'incess Elizabeth — 
to behead Ladv Jane Grey and her husband, with manv others. 

About this time she made it known she would marry Philip of 
Spain. She was persuaded by the Spanish ambassador to put 
Elizabeth to death, but she hardly dared to do this as yet. 



ENGLAND. 229 

In Julv, 15541 Philip (jt Spain came to England and married the 
queen. The Parliament agreed he should be called king during the 
life ot'iMary. but they refused to allow him to be crowned or to suc- 
ceed the queen in the event of her death without heirs. Both he 
and the queen were hated and suspected b}- the people. 

The pope sent Cardinal Reginald Pole as legate to England, to 
restore the R(iman religion, and oh, heresy of the worst kind, both 
houses knell before the pope's legate J;o receive absolution l"or the 
national sins of heresy and schism ; and tlie past was undone, and 
persecuiions again begun, and measin\"s were adapted to put in 
force liie barbel (HIS practices tif the stake and sword. 

The work was first given to (jardiner, but after to Bonuer, that 
horrid Bi>iiop of London, and now notice the same system was 
adopted that ue priiclice here, of changing the offices with the new 
partv, democrats in, rejiiiblicans out. Who do you su'ppose brought 
this state of things imperceptibly among us.^ Is it not the same 
party, and lor the same purpose? You say '•! do not know."' Well, 
ought you not to know, are you so wrapt up in partv tliat you lose 
sight of one of the most vital consequences of the dav? The ollices 
being all changed in England and filled up with their own sort, 
they could do anything, humble the naticm with this lalse bowing to 
the p')pe, and he, Philip, and the queen bc^gan over again their 
horrid butcheries. 

"The first on the list was John Rogers ; he had been a priest, but 
became cotnerted ; he translated Matthew's Bible ; he was sent first 
to the tcnver tor preaching at Paul's cross, and alter going before 
judges who were all Roman Catholics, he was sentenced to be 
burned. On his way to the scafVold he saw his wife^ and eleven 
children, one an infant, but could not get near them. 

All the way to the slake he was singing psalms, all the people re- 
joicing at his constancy. 



230 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The sight of his children did not move him, but lie cheerfully and 
patiently went on his way to Smithfield, where he was burnt to ashes 
in the presence of a great number of people, and his soul ascended 
in a chariot of lire to that Redeemer of whom he was so worthy, in- 
asmuch as he loved him more than wife and children, vea, even than 
his own life also." Fox's His. of Martyrs. 

Many of the practices of the Spanish inquisition were introduced 
into England : one would have supposed that if tire at the stake was 
to be the martyrs' end, thev would dry the wood, but no I green 
wood was brought by these fiends to prolong the sufferings. 

Qiieen Mary and her husband were hated, and it was now the 
time she was first called bloody Qiieen Mary. 

John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, suffered in this way. Then 
came Ridley, Latimer, Cranmer and a host of others all over 
Enffland, until the country was soaked in blood. 

This Philip of Spain using the country tor his own purpose, he 
threatened his wife never to see her more if she did not help him 
in his wars with France, so ten thousand of English soldiers were 
sent away to fight his battles. 

We could give a large list of these martyrs, but it would be only a 
repetition, and a sickening one, but as usual, it only made the 
people hate the wretches who could inflict such toriui^es on the very 
best of the people. 

The crime for which all tliese died was because Uiey could not 
believe in that worst of all blasphemy, transubstantiation. 

To the inexpressible delight of most of the nation the queen died 
on the 17th November, 1558, and almost within twenty four hours of 
her death, that other wicked tool of the pope. Cardinal Pole, left tliis 
earth to face some of their united victims. Great demonstrations of 
joy were shown in all parts of Enijland when the welcome new^s 
reached them, not only of her death, but in the fact of Elizabeth 
being made queen in her place. She was a Protestant with the firm 



ENGLAND. 23 1 

will of her father Henry VIII, and she undid all her sister Mary had 
done, and the church returned to the forms of worship established in 
the reign of her brother, Edward VI. 

This was a great blow to the pope, as well as to the despots sitting 
on the thrones of France and Spain. And this ended popery in 
England, and with it the torch and stake, and all honest hearts must 
wish forever. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SPAIN. 

"And the king shall answer and say unto them, verily I say unto you, inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethern, ye 
have done it unto me." Matthew XXV, 40. 

^ I ' HE reader will pardon us in our digression occasionally. This 
-^ book is not, as we have said before, intended as a continuous 
history of any countrj- ; its object is to show the acts of the so-called 
church of Rome, so that we can establish the fact of their evil doings 
everywhere, and under all circumstances, whenever they have had 
the opportunity, and that they have no claim on christianitv as 
preached by Christ and the apostles. 

As we look over the pages of history of the Sixteenth Century, a 
feeling of sadness and horror comes over us, to see the struggles of 
our forefathers at that time. 

In the country of which we are now writing, as well as others, 
large numbers were desirous of emerging from and repairing the 
dreadful confusion and superstition brought upon them by their evil 
rulers. 

England had by the hand of providence begun to move in the 
right direction, but night has again come over her in the person of 
the new Queen Mary. 



SPAIN. 233 

This woman, one of the most bigoted of the day, has married the most 
cruel t3'rant and superstitious man in the two countries ; fit tools for 
the work required of them by the man of sin at Rome, and when we 
see so many millions of people whose destiny hangs upon two men 
and one woman, the Qiieen, the pope and Philip II, it makes us re- 
gret the one man power, and we look to any form of government 
than can relieve the people from such a state of things. 

No wonder the Americans wanted a republic ; the}' knew more 
than later genferations do of the evils of the system. 

The Queen's part has been slightly spoken of in connection with 
England ; in this chapter our subject is more with Spain. 

Charles I, of Spain but as Emperor of German}-, was Charles V, 
has been mentioned in connection with the sacking of Rome, and in 
trying to suppress the Lutherans in Germany. 

Charles, whose word was nothing when his interests were involved, 
laid the foundation of Spain's decay. 

He had the same infatuation all pagans have ; they must be right 
others all wrong. 

He had been brought up a Roman Catholic and like most of them 
took everything the pope or priests said for truth, or self interest 
might cause him to lean to popery. 

He had seen enough to convince any unprejudiced mind that these 
people were only playing a part. 

Had he put the simple question to himself "can all this be consis- 
tent with true religion?" and had he made the necessary enquiries, 
he might have had his eyes opened and saved Spain from the humi- 
liating part as well as the sufferings she had to go through. 

There was a large number of Moors in Spain and the Netherlands 
at this time, and they had been promised the free e.\ercise of their 
religion, but in 1525 the Emperor gave an order for them to change 
their religion or quit the country. 



234 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

The Moors were a more refined people than the Spaniards, super- 
ior to ihem in many respects. In this order, it was pagan meeting 
pagan. The Moors were pagans and I'ust as sure they were right in 
their religion as the Roman pagans were. 

These Moors were descendants from the Arabs or Saraceens ; 
they had their own Koran, and accepted it for truth, on the same 
principle as the Roman Catholics did, accepted it from hearsa}', with- 
out investigation handed down from generation to generation, and 
looked on the Roman Catholic pagans' religion with abhorance, 
and they would cling to the Arab superstition as the Romans did to 
theirs. So they refused to change, and preferred to leave the 
country. 

One of the strangest pieces of bigotry is that a degraded religion 
makes the owner think himself superior to others ; the real christian 
humbleth himself. 

The Hindu by its castes, and there are several, they take their 
caste by birth, and cannot change, either above or below ; one caste 
is distinguished from another by the dress and they are taught to 
have as little to do with another caste as possible instead of loving 
each other as brothers. 

Some are Phariahs or degraded, who are below all caste. 
Strange as it seems to us, these people think or did think, that christ- 
ians are beneath them ; outcasts or infidels, polution to eat certain 
meats. That infatuation cost England a large war with the East 
Indians in 1857, known as the Indian Mutiny, brought by the Indian 
soldiers, having to put the cartridges in his mouth while loading 
that had been greased ; the same infatuation fired the Indian at this 
simple thing as we find many things do the Catholics ; this is about 
as silly as not eating meat on certain days and no doubt where the 
Romanists copied this custom. It is none of Christ's ordinances. 

Human religions are bred in ignorance, and yet it pufts up and 
gives self-importance ; not one of them could tell you why, from the 



SPAIN. 235 

Roman pagan to the Indian. A few da3s since a voung lady, a 
Calliolic, in speaking to the writer, liardly knijwing what to say, 
a>kecl unthinkirgly (it being St. Patrick's day) if he had "cele- 
brated." She was" asked who St. Patrick was. She answered at 
once, "I do not know." And these poor people are led from custom 
to do, to live and die, without knowing. 

The Mohammedans are ver}' bigoted. A few specimens will 
suffice. 

A young christian groom in the service of a Turk, being about to 
be married, had the imprudence to dress himself for the occasion, in 
certain colors and articles which the Turks jealously appropriated 
to persons of their own religion, and his bride in gay colors. 

They proceeded to the christian cemetry, outside of the town, 
wliere, in the absence of a church, marriages were celebrated. 

While the service was proceeding, several armed Turks who had 
accidentally appeared as spectators, were observed to collect some 
wood and kindle a lire. As soon as the ceremony was finished, they 
seized the unhappy pair, hacked the girl to pieces with their yata- 
gans, and having half murdered the man, they burnt him on the fire 
they had prepaied, declaring to the affrighted assembly (who being 
unharmed wei'e helpless) that they would thus treat all Ghiaours, 
who dared to presume to wear clothes such as the Turks or Moslem. 

At Mostar, the governer's Cavas, or body servant, was walking 
down the main street of the town, when an unfortunate christian 
working in his shop, and who chanced not to see this functionary, 
did not raise his hat in respect as he passed. The Cavas passed on 
a few 3'ards, and turning back drew his pistol and shot the christian 
dead on the spot. It was nothing usual. 

The christian is forbidden to celebrate the obsequies of their de- 
parted, and the following is the specimen of the forms of burial cer- 
tificate given to the christians under the sacred law of Islam. 



236 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

We certify to the priest of the church ot Mary, that the impure, 
putritied, stinking carcase of Sardah, damned this day, may be con- 
cealed under the ground. 

The Roman Catholics are just as bigoted, are forbidden to inquire 
or speak to christians on religion. The priests are afraid of discus- 
sion and aflFect a superiority or heap insulte ; the favorite one is 
heretic. One most singular thing is, all they have is so holy I be it 
ever so wicked. 

The pope is holy; cardinals the same, also priests. 
They have a holy church, holy water, saints, their meetings are 
holy, holy cemetry, wha,t makes a cemetry holy? holy inquisition, 
very much so I but let us give a picture of iioliness, in the sixteenth 
century, the date at which we are writing, and of pope Pius IV, the 
persecuter of the Netherlands. 

The soldiers of the pope fell on the small city of Orange, laid siege 
to it, and carried it by assault. 

"Then were committed" adds the chronicler, "such frightlul atro- 
cities, as make the hair rise on the head, at only reading them. 

The soldiers and monks forced the citizens to mount on the top of 
the houses, and to throw themselves down on pikes, halberds and 
swords ; they hung old men and children to the hooks in the chim- 
neys, roasted them by a slow fire, cut oft slices of the flesh, and ate 
them before their victims were dead : they mutilated the men. 

The young women of excreme youth, they thrust into their bodies 
poles of enormous dimensions, which tore their bowels. 

Those who made any resistance were pittilessly murdered, and 
then exposed in the public places entirely naked, with ox horns 
thrust into their body. Finally these Satellities of pontifical tyranny 
in their execrable fury, assuaged their lubricity on boys scarcely ten 
years old, and when these unfortunates had been tortured by this 
horrid outrage they fastened them to the racks and larded them while 
alive with pages of the Bibles of Geneva, as you would do the flesh 



SPAIN. 237 

of pork or of birds." L. M. De Cormein's His. of popes, vol. II, 
jiaj^L' 236. 

One more — llii.-^ little bit of pastime is by the next Tioly pope, 
Pius V. 

'•His holiness though freed from the enemies of Carafl'a. gave no 
relaxation to the executioners of the holv office ; he fell upon the 
heretics, cast them by thousands into prison, and even wished to pre- 
side over the executions. 

Among tlie examples of the ferocit\' of Pius, tiie historian Volat- 
leran cites the case of a voung woman, who had been denounced by 
the spies of the inquisitors, for having aided the flight from Rome of 
one of her sisters, who had embraced Galvanism. This unfortunate 
female was torn by night from her family, and without any regard 
to her state of pregnancy, was plunged into a dark and infected cell, 
where she was delivered of her child from fright. 

In ttie morning the cruel Pius brought her before his tribunal and, 
vvitho\it being moved bv the protestations of innocence and the 
prayer of this unfortunate woman, he ordered the monks, who filled 
tlie ofllce of tormenters, to do their duty. 

Three Dominicans then seized her, tore oft" her clothes and left 
her entirely naked, then they bent her body on the rack, fastened 
her feet and arms to cords which were retained to the wall in iron 
rings, and drew her with so much violence that her delicate and 
weak members were cut to the bone. 

They then inflicted on her the torture of water. But af'ter she had 
swallowed eight whole measures, she vomited it up with torrents of 
blood and fainted. 

His holiness then ordered the executioners to apply plates of 
heated brass to the most sensitive parts of her body, and to light a 
fire under her feet, which recalled her from her swoon. 

Finally as she persisted in her innocence, they took her down 
from the rack and carried her back to her dungeon, to her child, 



238 WHY HA\E PRIESTS AT ALL? 

who had died from cold, whilst they were torturing her: she herself 
died the next day. 

Pius, having discovered that she had been falsely accused, con- 
tented himself with restoring her dead body to her t'amilv." — L. M. 
De Cormein"s His. of Popes, vol. II, page 240. 

We begin where we left off, at the time Charles V gave orders 
to the people in the low lands to change their religion or leave the 
countr}'. 

About 100,000 succeeded in reaching AlVica, others took up arms, 
and great numbers were slain ; some remained and feigned the re- 
ligion, and learned the Spanish language, but were ill treated : 
there seems to be no generosity among pagans. Here in America, 
Roman Catholics are allowed to live in peace, and no one intei feres 
with their religion. The Protestants do not believe in it, more, they 
know it to be wrong, and 3^et they do not persecute or murder them 
for religion's sake ; they have the same privileges as others, but they 
are not content with equality, nothing short of being masters con- 
tent them ; they^ must rule or ruin. They have had the same privi- 
leges in all christian countries, but have always kept up the same in- 
triguing spirit, always unsetting the calm that christianit\' brings, 
and our eyes are being slowly opened to the tact that we must take 
the helm in our own hands or we shall be wrecked. But to return — 
The loss of the Moors was a great blow struck at the prosperity ot 
the nation, and the Emperor, tired of wars and cruelty to the Pro- 
testants, gave his power over to his son and retired broken in health 
and disappointed in nearl}- all of his plans, and so enters a monas- 
tery ; and alter a few j-ears dies on the 21st of September, 1558. 

His son takes the throne as Philip II ; he had been living with his 
wife, the queen, in England for a number of years, and had come 
in contact with men of liberal but determined spirits — men of 
thought. Despots hate think^rrs, men so ditferent to the cringing 
Spaniards; he found the English Parliament firm— would not give 



SPAIN. 239 

way. Protestantism was changing the people ; they no longer be- 
lieved in the one-man power, or in the divine right of kings, and 
he went back to Spain to impose on the Spaniards, things that 
would no longer be tolerated in England. 

He found Bibles had been sent over the country, in the Castilian 
tonirue, and were in the families of the nobles and the middle 
classes ; this was a dreadful heresy, and he at once set the inqui.^i- 
tion to work, to root all this evil out; by the horrors of this institu- 
tion he banished the Bible and Protestantism from Spain. The 
freedom of thought he had witnessed in England, he at once des- 
troyed, and sent his country back to the barbarism, she has not 
to this day fully recovered. 

The Moors that remained in Spain pretended to be Catholics, still 
they followed their own religion. He made an order to change their 
.language, and ordered all their children to be sent to the Spanish 
schools, and even to give them Spanish names ; he persecuted them 
in all ways, so that the Moors took up arms and murdered the 
Roman Catholics in their immediate neighborhood. 

This brought on a civil war, which lasted four years; the Moors 
were almost exterminated, but how much blood and treasure did it 
cost Spain, as well as the rest of her best people ? 

It would seem almost impossible for any country, not actually 
slaves, to sink lower than this Spanish people ; severe laws had 
been made to suppress Lutherism, both by the Emperor and Philip, 
and the despotism was felt by all. 

The one leading idea seemed to be, to force Roman Catholicism 
on the country ; the welfare of the people, their success in commerce, 
was nothing compared to this. Phillip H seemed to be a man of one 
idea, and that the success of his own supe.rstition ; to depopulate the 
country was nothing, compared to ihis insane movement. 

There had been a partial cessation of this bloody work for a few 
years during the infirmities of the Emperor, but now it breaks forth 
with fresh fury. 



240 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

Death everywhere ; 'twas death to have a prayer meeting in your 
own home, death to read the Bible, death even to speak about it, 
death to have a Protestant book in 3'our possession. 

You must not doubt the holv fathers' integrit}' and hoHness, 3'ou 
must not doubt transubstantiation, in fact you must be next to a fool, 
to live at all, and the Spaniards groaned under these oppressive 
laws ; but so much more did the people of the Netherlands, who had 
a different spirit to the Spaniards. 

They had not been reduced by this most degrading of all religious 
poperv ; ihey had, most of them, been pagans, until they became 
Lutherans. 

Mohammedan pagans are bad enough, but do not equal their 
Roman brothers. 

No wonder thev were rebellious when a son or daughter, or wife, 
or husband, sister, or triend, was buried alive before their eyes ; and 
this was one of tlie holy laws, but it increased Protestantism, for they 
saw young women, ordered to be buried alive, going to the grave 
as to a bridal party, with such happ}- faces ; this only increased tlieir 
admiration for a religion that could sustain all under such circum- 
stances. 

This ought to have softened the hearts of the persecutors. Some- 
thing must have changed the spirit of this most bigoted king, either 
the fear of the threatened insurrection or the effect these open execu- 
tions had on the population, for in many cases he changed the mode 
of burning at midday, to that of drowning at midnight, and in the 
prison. This was a device of his own invention: They fastened 
the prisoners' head and knees together with a rope, throwing them 
in a cistern of water, kept in the prison for this purpose. 

It is a fact, these people under such circumstances, will worship 
God with great constancy : at first they would maet in all kinds of 
places, in caverns, in the woods, or anywhere, to get away from 
the spies that were always watching, to lay tresh reports, to make 
fresh victims ; but this seemed only to make them bolder, for they 



SPAIN. 241 

oame out in the open air, liad field preaching in numbers from 
5,000 to 10,000, and during this increase of worship the people were 
drawn into the offices of this cursed inquisition. Their fate and 
tortures unknown. Despotism had such a firm hold that these blood- 
thirsty creatures of the inquisition often killed for pastime or re- 
venge. Here are a few cases : 

A carver named Rochus, who lived at St. Lucar, in Spain, and 
whose principal business was making images of saints and popish 
idols, becoming convinced of the errors of the Romish persuasion, 
embraced the Protestant faith, left off carving images, and for 
subsistence, followed the business of a seal engraver only. He had. 
however, retained one image of the Virgin Mary for a sign, when 
an inquisitor, passing by, asked if he would sell it. Rochus men- 
tioned a price, the inquisitor objected to it, and offered half the 
money. Rochus replied, " I would rather break it in pieces than 
take such a trifle. " " Break it in pieces ! " said the inquisitor, 
" break it to pieces, if you dare. " Rochus, being provoked at this 
expression, snatched up a chisel and cut off the nose of the image. 

This was sufficient. The inquisitor went awa}- in a rage, and 
soon after sent to have him arrested. In vain did he plead, that 
what he defaced, was his own property, and if it was not proper to 
do as he would with his own, it was not proper for the inquisitor to 
bargain for the image in the way of trade. Nothing, however, 
availed him ! his fate was decided. He was condemned to be 
burned, and the sentence was executed immediately. " Fox's Book 
of Martyrs, 102. 

A Dr. Cacalla, his brother Francis, and sister Blanche, were 
burned at Valladolid, for having spoken against the inquisitors. 

A gentlewoman, with her two daughters and niece, were appre- 
hended at Seville on account of their having apprehended the 
Protestant religion. 



242 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

They were all put to the torture, and when that was over, one 
of the inquisitors sent tor the youngest daughter, pretending to 
sympathise with her, and pity her sufferings, then binding himsell 
with a solemn oath, not to betray her, he said, ' If you will dis- 
close all to me, I promise you I will procure the discharge of your 
mother, sister, and cousin, and yourself. ' Made confident of this 
oath, she revealed the whole of the tenets they professed, when the 
perjured wretch, instead of acting as he had sworn, immediately or- 
dered her to be put to the rack, saying. ' Now you have revealed so 
much, I will make vou reveal more. ' On her refusal, however, to 
say anything further, all the prisoners were sentenced to be burned, 
which sentence was executed at the next Auto-da-Fe. " Fox's 
Book of Martyrs, 102. 

''The keeper of the castle ofFriano, belonging to the inquisitors of 
Seville, happened to be a more humane character than is usual with 
persons in his situation. 

He gave all the indulgence he could to the prisoners, and showed 
them every favor in his power, with as much secrecy as possible. 
At length, the inquisitors became acquainted with his kindness, and 
determined to punish him severely for it, that the gaolers might be 
deterred from showing the least trace of that compassion, which 
ought to glow in the breast ot every human being. 

With this view, they superseded him, threw him into a dismal 
dungeon, and used him with such dreadful barbarity that he lost his 
senses. His deplorable situation, however, procured him no favor, 
for, frantic as he was, they brought him from prison, at an Auto-da- 
Fe, to the usual place of punishment, with a sambenitor (or garment 
worn by criminals) on him, and a rope about his neck. 

His sentence was then rc-ad, that he should be placed upon an ass, 
led through the city, receive two hundred stripes, and then be con- 
demned six 3-ears to the galleys. 



SPAIN. 243 

The unhappy, frantic wretch, just as they were about to begin his 
punishment, suddenly sprang from the back of the ass, broke the 
cords that bound him, snatched a sword from one of the guards, and 
dangerously wounded an officer of theinqisition ; being overpowered, 
he was prevented from doing further mischief, seized, bound more 
securely to the ass, and punished according to his sentence. So in- 
exorable were the inquisitors, that for the rash effect of his madness, 
for which they were themselves answerable, four years were added 
to his slavery in the galleys. 

A maid servant to another gaoler, belonging to the iniquisition, 
was accused of humanity, and detected in bidding the prisoners 
keep up their spirits. 

For this heinous crime, as it was called, she was publicl}^ whip- 
ped, banished from her native place for ten years, and had her 
forehead branded with red hot irons, with these words, ' A favorer 
and aider of heretics. ' " Fox's Book of Martyrs. 

We could fill our pages with such cases as the above, only more 
disgusting in the mode of execution. Surelv a people that would 
plan, execute or even look on with indifference at these unmerited 
sufferings, must be calous indeed ; the enemy of our souls must 
be in their hearts, and it is not confined to the better people, but 
the Romanists also had to suffer persecution. How should we like 
to go back to such a degrading state of things ? Oh, that is im- 
possible, say you ; we are so free, and besides, the Romanists are 
not like that to-day, they are a different people. Oh ! are they ? 
don't give them too much power, or you might suddenly change 
your opinion. They have not changed much in Spain. 

'Tis true the Government is more tolerable and allows more free- 
dom of religion than formerly, but that has been forced on ihem ; 
they did the same in France and Germany at different periods, but 
revolted when it suited. 



244 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The priests in Spain oppose evervtliing in the way of reforma- 
tion ; all the good has been done by force of circumstances. 

Public meetings are being held there, and a great many are being 
converted. The schools have been opened for Protestants and 
others, but the persecution is beyond description ; some new effort 
is made every day to frustrate tlie work. 

The children are waiched going and coming out, priests one day 
and ladies the next, and they accost the children on their way to 
school, or on going home, trying to proselite and win them over to the 
schools, that have been opened in opposition to the Protestant schools, 
about the same as the}' are doing in America ; how strange the}- should 
all at once find out that children want schools. 

The following is from the Christian of London : "Spies have 
been sent to the meetings, and, indeed, we wish more would 
come ; even Father Bocos himself, and hear the prayers offered for 
our opposers, and get good to their souls through the word. 

The teachers have been told, as they walked along the streets, 
that they ought to be hanged for teaching the children lies, and 
the children, that the Protestants will soon be dead. " 

We are told that at a recent service at the paiish church, the priest 
reproved the parents, who send tlieir children to the Protestant 

schools, like Senor , who lives at , naming a respectable 

person, whose child attends the boys' school, and concluded by 
taking a kind of oath of his congregation, that they would remain 
faithful to the Roman Catholic faith to the end of their days, and 
that they would be enemies of the Protestants. 

So in Spain they cannot murder in the good old way, but they go 
as far as they can, and tell their flocks the rood old day of the in- 
quisition will soon return. Well, they have not changed much, the 
only change is the force of circumstances. 

In 1559 Philip appointed his half sister, Margaret, Duchess of 
Panama, Regent of the Netherlands, and he now prepares to put 



SPA IN. 245 

in force the plan he has long been wishing for — the extermination 
of the heretics in the Netherlands. Henr}' II, of France, had 
made known Philip's intention to William of Nassau, Prince of 
Orange, one of ths great men of the low countries. William was at 
that time a CathoHc, but was not so bigoted as to join in the plot. 
Philip now gives fresh orders to the inquisition to proceed with 
more vigor against the heretics. 

The Prince of Orange, who was Governor of Holland and Zea- 
land, became the champion of the Protestants, and refused to allow 
the people in his provinces to be burned, and his example was fol- 
lowed by other governors. Many of the Flemings left the countr}^ 
still further impoverishing it, and the country was at a great pitch 
of excitement. They petitioned the Regent, stating their grievances, 
and the burning of heretics was changed to hanging — how kind. 
And tiiese ungrateful people did not even seem content by such a 
mode of exit, and so the unconquering spirit of Ishmael burst forth, 
and in less than a week, put a stop to at least four hundred of these 
so-called churches, with their contents, all destroyed. Then the 
Regent gave wa}- to the only thing popery respects, force, and 
granted to the Protestants permi.^sion to worship in their own way. 
This was in 1566. 

Philip was very angr}- when this news reached him, and at once 
prepared to carry force into the low countries. 

The Prince of Orange had had his opinion changed regarding the 
Roman Catholic religion ; he afterwards became a Protestant, but 
he now tried to mediate with the King, but failed and so left for 
Germany with a number of the Flemish nobles. So fades awav the 
best friend these people had, and the king, whose chief business it 
seemed to be to murder his own subjects, sent in 1567 an army of 
Spanish troops to crush what was called an insurrection brought 
about by his own inhumanity, and all the time urged on b\' this so- 
called Vicar of Christ. 



246 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The King sent the Duke of Alva at the head of this army, and an 
association was formed at Brussels, known by the christian name of 
the Council of Blood, and then went on the holy work of shooting, 
hanging, burning, beheading, and the Duke of Alva was engaged in 
this holy occupation for nearly six years, and boasted that in that 
time he had destroyed nearly 20,000 heretics. In 1568 the 
population of the Netherlands was sentenced as heretics bv the in- 
quisition and the king ; their property contiscated, the king's 
treasury made rich. But the people I Oh I how about the people? 
Why, they were driven to starve in the woods ; those who could, 
left the country, the once flourishing towns were now deserted, 
many of the men's hearts became hardened, and they turned Pirates 
whose cruisers filled the sea. The Prince of Orange at this period 
made an attempt to raise an army to help his countrymen ; not 
succeeding, he withdrew into France and joined the Huguenots. 

A retribution overtook the Spaniards by the Flemish cruisers, 
who prayed on the Spanish commerce : this was stopped by the 
Qiieen Elizabeth, so one of the Flemish captains went to an island 
in Zealand, captured Brille, its capitol and made it his home for 
privateers ; a revolt in the northern provinces against the Spaniards, 
ended in the Dutch republic being organized on the 15th of July, 
1572, and William of Orange became chief magistrate of Holland, 
Zealand, Friesland and Utrecht, with the title of Stadtholder. 

The Duke of Alva now makes war upon the southern provinces, 
and reducing them to submission, some towns were given up to mas- 
sacre and pillage, the inhabitants going through horrors too dread- 
ful to mention. 

The northern provinces under William of Orange remained firm 
and unconquered. But in the winter of 1572 and 1573 the Duke 
tried to capture the Dutch fleet, which was frozen up in Amsterdam, 
but which was prevented by a Dutch force on skates. 



SPAIN. 247 

Harlem was attacked and heroically defended, but if had to sur- 
render, and they put to death several thousand citizens. City after 
city had to defend themselves from this council of blood with great 
loss. 

The Spanish soldiers mutinied tVom want of pay, and they begun 
plundering. Antwerp was sacked for three days with a loss of 
about 10,000 of its citizens. All this did not subdue the Protestants, 
but it caused them in 1576 to combine for self protection, and to ex- 
pel the Spaniards, and establish themselves so that the king would 
keep his hands off their religious matters. 

And now his most Catholic majesty, finding he had raised a storm 
he was unable to subdue, descends to the usual plan of these despotic 
rulers, by offering a large reward for the murder of the prince of 
Orange. The Prince charged Philip with having previoush' done 
the same thing. 

On the 26th of October, 1581, the state's General proclaimed the 
Duke of Anjou sovereign Lord of the Netherlands, and renounced 
their allegiance to Philip of Spain. 

Holland and Zealand was secured to the Prince of Orange at last, 
after several attempts to assassinate the Prince of Orange ; it was 
accomplished by one, Balthazar Gerrard, who was put to death by 
the Dutch. 

This was a great blow to the republic, still the struggle was carried 
on by his second son, Prince Maurice, who became his successor at 
the age of eighteen ; his elder brother was a prisoner in Spain. In 
1585 Antwerp was taken by the Prince of Parma, after a most des- 
perate struggle, and extraordinary defense ; the generals of Philip 
had succeeded in keeping the southern provinces, and banishing the 
Protestants from that part, but this was done at the expense of the 
prosperity of the country. The Catholics remaining, found them- 
selves financially ruined. When this Philip came to the throne, the 
Netherlands were in a most flourishing condition, making seventeen 



248 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

provinces in all, and large and small towns and villages to the num- 
ber of ab )ut one thousand, many of them walled, and all this commer- 
ciall}^ ruined, to carry out the insane idea of setting up the idolatry 
of popery. 

As we look at this king from this distance, his whole reign appears 
more like that of a madman than anything else ; he was the most 
cruel bigot for a king, we can find in history ; he lived to be hated 
by all, his whole policy brought loss and ruin to this country, and he 
was the dupe of many, particularly of his fellow monster at Rome 
and who ordered all this butchery. But did this stop the march of 
Christianity? No! it went on, and will go on to confound it? ene- 
mies. All this king did was a failure. 

That Armada, known as the invincible, ended at the bottom of the 
(^cean ; this one thing ought to have opened his eyes, and shown 
him he was fighting against God, but he was so wrapped up in his 
own immensity that he could see nothinfj unless he viewed it 
through his own superstition ; he spent large sums of mone}- on his 
fleet, and it was truly ^ formidable affair for England ; had he landed, 
the carnage would have been dreadful. 

He was hated and ridiculed by the pope, who had offered him so 
much money, to be paid after the success of this expedition, and of- 
fered with the intention of never paying. Some may sa}' such a 
statement as that requires proof. Well, then yo-u shall have proof, 
if history is proof. 

" We now speak of Pope Sixtus V. At the time he was exciting 
Philip of Spain to take a brilliant vengeance against Elizabeth and 
England, a numerous fleet had already collected in the ports of 
Spain, and only waiting for a signal, to set sail for England : that 
signal was the assassination of Elizabeth ; a Jesuit named Ballard 
had induced a 3-oung gentleman named Babington to do the job : 
this was known to the pope, Philip, and others, and the fleet was 



SPAIN. 249 

waiting until this was accomplished And let me say here this 
same pope, while encouraging all this villany, had, with a number 
of cardinals undertaken to revise the Bible. 

The above plot was discovered and the conspirators executed, to- 
gether with Mary of Scotland. 

There was one thing that still delayed the sailing of the fleet, and 
that was for the pope to make a cardinal of William Alley n, a 
traitor, who had sold himself to Spain, and also the promise of the 
money. 

So the pope sent for Alleyn to come and receive a cardinal's 
hat from his hands. 

He appointed him also as legate to Spain, and to hurry up the ar- 
maments against England, he also sent a secret treaty, in which he 
entered into an obligation 10 pay a million of crowns as soon as the 
Spaniards were in possession of a single city of England. 

Philip accepted this, and doubled the number of ships, and added 
filty thousand men to the troops, and then named it the Invincible, 
for *he conquest of England. One more thing the king wanted to 
make all sure, and that was fur the pope to issue an excommunica- 
tion against Queen Elizabeth, which was done bv the pope and all 
the cardinals framing a bull too long for us to publish. 

It was worded as such things usually were, calling her an usurper, 
a wretch, encouraging all the assassins of England, and elsewhere 
to murder her, and deliver her body to the holv iniquisition as a 
heretic, and anyone doing this holy work should not only receive 
large recompense in this life, but in the life to come, the glories of 
heaven. 

We shudder as we write this blasphemy, especially when we 
think these wholesale murderers were at the same time soiling the 
word of God with their unclean hands, pretending to revise it. 

This terrible bull was published in the ecclesiastical states, with 
tolling of bells, and by the light of candles. At Madrid, thev dressed 
the chapel of the palace of Escurial in black, and followed bv all 



250 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

the grandees of his court, caused the anathema pronounced against 
the Queen of England to be read by the nuncio. This bull also 
gave the crown of England to Philip. " L. M. de Cormein's His. of 
Popes, vol. 2, page 262. 

Well, you say this onl}' offers the money to Philip; it does not 
prove he never intended to give it. Well, then, we will go a little 
farther. 

" The Queen of England had sent an ambassador to Rome, 
named Carey, and on his hearing this bull publicly read, he natural- 
ly supposed his business was over in this quarter, so he prepared to 
leave Rome for England, when he was sent for to attend a private 
audience at the Vatican. Sixlus delivered a long discourse on the 
necessity under which sovereigns were, of disguising their thoughts, 
and acting contrary to their sentiments. 

He renewed his protestations of friendship for Elizabeth, and told 
him to w^ite to the queen, to place himself in a state of defense 
against the attacks of Philip, adding that after having exiled the 
Spanish wasp, bv putting the Scotch prostitute to death, she ought 
from prudence to guard against being stung, or perhaps killed. 

He continued that his title of pope compelled him to take part 
with Philip, whom he mortallv hated, and that he was de.^irous of 
treating him as she had treated Mary Stuart. 

He affirmed to her that the succors he had promised were in reality 
illusorv, since thev were reduced to the gift of a red hat to a stupid 
lord, and a ridiculous excommunication, which the queen could 
readily return in her capacity of popess, and as for the million of 
crowns, he was only bound to furnish them six months at"ter the cap- 
ture of some considerable place in England, which the queen could 
certainly prevent. 

The conference having terminated, he sent to Carey a very cir- 
cumstantial note as to the plans of Philip, the state of his arm}^ the 
character of his generals, and the cause of the expedition. 



SPAIN. 251 

He recommended to him to transmit it immediately to his sover- 
eign, and to recommend to her to strike a si;dden blow on the low 
countries in which symptoms of revolt were manifesting, whilst 
Spain was solely occupied with arming against Great Britain, and 
when the fate of the Armada was known, and Carey read to the pope 
his dispatches, he said to Cardinal Montalto, ' Rejoice, for the 
Kingdom of Naples is ours. ' " L. M. de Cormein's His. Popes, 
vol. 2, page 263. 

If Christ had appointed a vicar on earth, would itbe for such work 
as this ? Nothing could convince this man Philip he was wrong, tor 
the next year, 1595, he was preparing another Armada for the con- 
quest of England, but a combined English and Dutch fleet spoiled his 
hopes once more, in the harbour of Cadiz, b\' defeating it, and cap- 
turing the town. 

Again, in 1596, he collecte<l a fleet for the same purpose, and it 
was lost by a tempest. 

And in 1598 this man died, after having held the helm of the 
country for torty-two years. His son ascended the throne as Philip 
HI, who continued his father's policy of destroying Protestants, and 
in two years he commanded them to leave Spain. 

Now begins another exodus of between two and three hundred 
thousand. 

Many try to get to Alrica, France and other places ; the losses 
are frighttul by starvation and other wa3's, the commerce of the 
country again feels the loss, and it wmt on the sliding scale towards 
ruin, under the different kings. 

They lose Portugal, Gibraltar and other places including her 
West India colonies, until she takes the isolated position she lies 
under to-day. Peace, plenty and power, were given her by a kind 
providence, but she refused it tor a criminal shadow, and to-da}-, 
like France, nothing but that Protestantism which she fought against 



252 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

will restore her. And the next exodus or repentance, will be we 
hope, the enemies of Christ, that led her into all this horrible crime, 
and which has clung to her, like a pestilence — how the words at the 
head of this chapter, mus-t strike these evil doers, when their con- 
science awakens, in this life, or the next, but we leave them. 



CHAPTER X. 
SCOTLAND. 

"Be ye strorg therefore, and let not your hands be weak, for your work shalt 

be rewarded. 
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show 

himself strong in the behalf of them, whose heart is perfect toward him."" 
II Chronicles, XV, 7, the same, XVI, part of 9. 

IN commencing our remarks on Scotland, we again repeat, our 
book is not a history of any country, excepting as it relates to. 
the reformation. 

We select the reign of James IV, 15 13, now at war with England, 
under Henry VHI. 

James entered England with a splendid army, but did not succeed, 
and lost his life at Floodenfield, together with the flower of the 
Scotch nobility. His reign had been popular and prosperous, and 
the doctrines of the reformation, had been introduced into Scotland. 
The clergy begun the usual persecutions, but did not succeed. 

The printing press was introduced by Walter Chapman, and the 
approval of the king. 

His son, a child of two years, was made king as James V, under 
the regency of Qiieen Margaret, and the Duke of Albany, high ad- 
miral of France, who was very unpopular, both with Scotland and 
England, and in 1522 Henry of England demanded his dismissal,, 



254 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

and the French alHance with Scotland to be discontinued. We 
might say here, tliis alliance was a constant source of war between 
the three countries. 

The pope and his representatives, were continually setting up 
strife between them. It gave him fresh power, and this has been 
one of the great weapons of this so-called church, to foment strife in 
most cases secretly, and then to gain by coming in as a mediator, 
appearing to cast oil on the troubled water, but always leaving 
some loop hol« open for future contention. 

This demand of the king brought on a border warfare, until the 
regent left for France. 

Protestantism was making great headway in Scotland, but great- 
ly persecuted by cardinal Beaton and others, who again brought 
about a war between England and Scotland. 

The Scotch king in 1542 sent a large arm}- to the borders, which 
was badly beaten at Solway Moss on the 6th of December ; at this 
time the king was expecting a male heir, but received news of a 
daughter being born unto him ; this greatly disappointed him, and 
with the disgrace of his army, 'tis thought he hastened his death 
which took place 14th of December, 1542. 

This king had been a faithful follower of the Roman Catholic 
church, therefore persecutions of the Protestants went on in his 
name. 

Cardinal Beaton was determined to break up the heresy if possible 
and a great many martyrs were made. 

We can only publish a few of his cases of cruelty. We give here, 
one that stands out more prominent than the rest, with its sickening 
circumstances at the scaffold. 

This man, Patrick Hamilton, a great preacher and reformer, was 
trapped by the greatest treachery, by the bishops and priests, headed 
by Cardinal Beaton. 

We ffive the scene at the scaffold. 



SCOTLAND. 255 

He now ascended the pile. The executioners drew an iron band 
around his body and fastened him to tlie stake. 

They piled up ihe fagots and put a bag of gun powder amongst 
them to make them ignite. "In the name of Jesus," said the mar- 
tyr, "I give up m}' bod\^ to the fire, and commit my soul in the 
hands of the Father." 

The torch was now brought. The gunpowder was exploded ; it 
shot a fagot in the martyr's face, but it did not kindle the wood. 

More powder was brought and exploded, but without kindling the 
pile. 

A third supply was secured ; still, the fagots would not burn ; 
thev were green. Turning to the deaths man, Hamilton said, 
'Have you no dry wood?' Some persons ran to fetch some from 
the castle : the sufferer all the while standing at the stake, wounded 
in the face, and partially scorched, yet, giving no signs of im- 
patience or anger.' So testifies Alesius, who says, 'I was present, a 
spectator of that tragedy.' 

Hovering near that pile, drawn thither it would seem, by some 
dreadful fascination, was Prior Campbell, he was one who betrayed 
him. While the fresh supplies of powder and wood were being 
brought, and the executioners were heaping up the fagots, Campbell, 
with frenzied voice, was calling on the martyr to 'recant, heretic,' 
he shouted, 'be converted, call upon our Lady ! only say : Sa/ve 
Rcgina. 

'If thou believest in the truth of what thou sayest, replied the con- 
fessor bear witness to it, by putting the tip of thy finger only in the 
fire, in which my whole body is burning.' The Dominican burst 
out afresh into accusations and insults. 'Depart from me, thou mes- 
senger of Satan,' said the martyr, 'and leave- me in peace.' The 
wretched man was unable either to go away or cease reviling. 

' Submit to the pope, ' he cried, ' there is no salvation but in union 
with him. ' 



256 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

' Thou wicked man,' said Hamilton,' ' tliou knowest the contrary, 
for thou toldest me so thyself, I appeal thee before the tribunal seat 
of Jesus Christ. ' 

At the hearing of the words, the friar rushed to his monastery ; in a 
few days his reason gave way, and he died raving mad at the day 
named, in the citation of the martyr. 

Patrick Hamilton was led to the stake at noon ; the afternoon was 
wearing away, in fact it was now past sunset. These six hours had 
he stood on the pile, his face bruised, his limbs scorched, but now 
the end was near, for his whole body was burning in the fire. 

The iron band around his middle was red hot, and the marlvr was 
almost burned in two. 

One approached him and said: ' If thou still boldest true the doc- 
trine for which thou diest, make us a sign. Two of the fingers of his 
right hand were already burned, and had dropped oft. 

Stretching out his arm, he held out the remaining three fingers till 
they too had fallen into the fire. 

The last words he was heard to utter were, ' How long, O Lord, 
shall darkness overwhelm this realm ; how long will thou suffer this 
tyrann}' of men. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ' " Rev. J. A. 
Wylie's His. of Protestantism, vol. 3, page 477. 

The death of James V introudces to the world the ill-fated, but 
beautiful Queen Mary of Scotland, who was now under the care 01 
her mother, Mary of Lorraine, the second wife of James V. 

James Hamilton, the Earl of Arran, was chosen regent. Henry 
Vni tried to force the Scots into a treaty for the marriage of the 
young Qiieen Mary to his son Edward, Prince of Wales, and so 
unite ihe two countries ; this onl}?- ended in several invasions of Scot- 
land, to the great loss of the latter. Several hundred villages, 
churches and other places were burned by the English, but by the 
aid of France, the young lady, Mar}-, was taken there, and the 
English retreated from Scotland, and a peace was made in 1550. 



SCOTLAND. 257 

For several centuries the Roman Catholics had great power in 
Scotland, all the human elements were suited to its success ; the 
greatest of all was the deep ignorance of the people ; the contentions 
between England and Scotland weakened the Government, and it 
was just where the pope wanted it to be ; they kept it alwa}'s at the 
boiling point, ready at any time for strife, therefore the people had 
no time or inclination for improvement, and were kept in ignorance. 
The nobles were diyided into clans and factions, the poor held their 
lands under their chiefs, and were at their disposal, so this countr}^ 
at this period, was in an inflamable state, always ready tor an ex- 
plosion. That state of things gave the papists great power, and 
they, with their usual greediness, got possession of about half of the 
country, and put such burdens on the other that the people groaned. 
The papists do not seem to haye as much discression as other people ; 
they might be sure that, putting the last straw on the camel's back, 
it would either break or burst, and then with such a plucky, spirited 
people as the Scots are, these high-toned bishops and Abbots would 
have to look out for themselves. The Romanists had the mastery 
of the counlrA', all the offices of the state, secretaries, generals, 
judges, ambassadors ; the\' led the armies and tried all the cases. 
Protestants would be likely to get small satisfaction, on going be- 
fore a pagan judge, in such times as those. The people groaned 
under the taxes, most trades were taxed to support this already 
over-rich church, there were tithes and many other things to raise 
money to build handsome cathedrals, abbeys, convents and monas- 
teries ; tliey had a large surplus always on hand, while the people 
were, in many case,= , destitute. 

The Church of Rome has had always some pet nation to give the 
offices of the different countries to ; at this time, in Scotland, it was 
the French ; when England once took stock of this matter, they 
found the Italians had possession of everN'thing ; they have had some 



25^ WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

country, at all times, to do their murdering work : it is called up- 
holding them, or the secular power, and they give what do not be- 
long to them, namely, the offices for their pay. The Austrians, the 
Spanish and others have had their turn, but these nations have 
given the pope the cold shoulder, and thev now put their favors on 
the Irish, the onl}^ country left thev can depend on, and these, al- 
though too small for real help, are large enough to create illfeeling, so 
we find, here in America, the Irish have the offices, and not only 
that, but popish laborers are given the work, belonging to the cor- 
porations, in preference to the Protestants. This is brought about by 
putting their own people in office. 

Are you already slaves, how much longer are the Americans 
going to sit quietly, and see their inheritance taken from before 
their eyes, and like the Spaniel, lick the hand that holds the whip? 
Is this the same nation that had its orifjiu in the New England 
States ? 

How easy it is for an almost invisible foe to set one nation 
against the other. Men trained on the Jesuit principle, living to- 
gether, and who appear very circumspect, and take no apparent 
part or interest in any particular thing, and yet these are the ones 
who are alwa3'S working for the one object, namely, to stir up strife 
among the nations ; they have been educated for this particular 
business; at the time we are writing, there was a great hatred be- 
tween the Scots and English ; the same spirit is abroad to-day ; the 
Catholic Irish are being fermented with hatred against Protestant 
Irish, Scots, English and others, and b}- whom? By the same people. 
And the Scots did not learn to love tlie English until their eyes were 
opened as to the cruelty and bigotry of the Roman church. 

During the reign of James V, Protestantism had made great head- 
way in Scotland, and many were publicly burned for being heretics, 
bv the Roman Clergv. Many of the Scots were uneducated, but 
thev had within them that instinct of right and wrong, and they 



SCOTLAND. 259 

could not see hovv one set ot" men could take to themselves the right 
of dictating to another, particularly in such a cruel manner of fastening 
a man to the stake, first rendering him helpless, and then setting 
fire to wood or fagots under hiin ; not for any wrong he had done, 
but because he wanted to rise with the God-given instinct, to a height 
above that which these persecuters ever attained. It did not require 
much philosophy in such an intelligent people as the Scots to see 
this. 

They had just witnessed the burning of one of the preachers of the 
Gospel named George Wishart ; this and similar executions was 
chiefly the work of Cardinal Beaton, and some of Wishart's hearers 
gained admission to the castle he lived in, and in revenge, murdered 
the Cardinal, and such things as these set the nation thinking; there 
were at this time a great many refugees crossing the border from 
England, and the people compared notes, and the Scots saw popery 
was far more cruel in England, under Mary, than in Scotland, and 
a great deal more hated. The Scots sympathized with tiiese ne vv 
comers in their misery, and each day gave them more strength and 
determination to root out from Scotland this worst of all heresies, 
popery. 

It is strange how long a nation will put up with an evil. Stagger- 
ing under the load, and yet remaining to a certain extent patient, 
until it becomes to glaring, and then they seek for strength in union, 
and on discussing the subject daily, they begun to see the troubles of 
the past centuries had come from this source ; their eyes are being- 
opened to the wholesale robberies in the sacred name of religion, 
and they now see religion has only been used as a mask to carr}- on 
their deception ; they not onl}' see the country taken possession of by 
this foreign army of priests, friars, nuns and others too numerous to 
speak of now, but that they have become slaves, in order to keep up 
in extravagant style and pompous living these locusts, feeding on the 
fat of the land, while themselves and families have scarcely enough 



26o WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

to susist on ; they now see the wars are kept up in order to distract 
the nations, keep them poor and their thoughts on their supposed 
enemies : they now see these nations would have Hved in peace if 
this church, the maker of strife, had not raised enmity between them 
and thus kept their minds away from their own wretched con- 
dition. 

These facts being now surely tixed on their minds, this determined 
people set about in earnest, to pull down the miserable structiu'e the 
Roman papists had built, and set one up after the pattern of the 
apostles, Jesus Christ being the great High Priest. So in 1557 they 
bound themselves by a covenant to stand by each other in pulling 
down this Roman Catholic church in Scotland, and to establish the 
true religion of Christ, which had been blotted out by this Roman 
church. This movement gave them afterwards the name of the 
Covenanters. 

This was one of the most prolific ages that christianitv had seen. 
The voice and power of God was abroad on the earth. 

Those countries that had virtue enough to listen and adopt the 
word of life have since then reaped a rich reward ; never since 
the days of the apostles, had God raised up such an]armv of true men 
to fight this Anti-Christ. 

There were such men as Luther. Calvin, Zwingie, Knox and a 
host of others, sufficient to have sunk this resurrected imposture for- 
ever, but the world was not as yet readv, and the cup of iniquitv of 
this so-called church was not yet full. The people of England and 
of course Scotland, were kept back bv the verv man that could have 
set such a good example for the world. 

And yet his actions in driving the pope from there, closing up the 
monasteries, together with the extraordinary progress of Protestan- 
tism in Europe, gave the Scotchmen such a desire to rid the country 
from this popish evil, especially as the character of these seeming 
saints lay open before them, that the\- lo.'-t evt-n common respect for 
these disguised pagans. 



SCOTLAND. 261 

Scotland had ne\'ei" had, up to this time, yucli peace as she has 
since enjo3'ed in connection with England, but she must show her- 
self to be worthy before that peace would come. 

Nothing but a nation determined to be free could have signed such 
a covenant, as did this people. In it, the}- renounced the pope and 
his dogmas, and the all Glorious Bible, the word of God, was set up 
in his place. This was the casting out of Satan and putting on 
Christ. At this time the Queen Mother was regent, coming from 
the family of one of the greatest haters of Protestantism in France, 
the Duke of Guise. The -voung Qiieen, with the usual duplicity of 
this church, was now in France, having her 3'oung mind poisoned 
with the doctrines of poperv, and having such companions ;'s the 
Qiieen Mother of France, and Diana of Poitiers. 

The Scots were onlv waiting for some fresh outrage, or some overt 
act, to make them demand a reform in the religion of the countrj-. 
This opportunity was soon given. 

The Catholics never like any one to repent — if they do, they assail 
them in everv possible way — persecution, stinging reproaches and 
even forcing parents to disown their children if they attempt to clear 
themselves from the idolatr}' of the popish religion ; the}' follow with 
hatred any one seeking relief, even their popes are not exempt. We 
have had a few instances of popes desiring reform, but their lives 
were made short a few days, or weeks, after making known their 
desires ; their bodies have been found full ot dagger holes, or the poi- 
soned cup, has done its work, and a more congenial one elected. 

'Twas so in Scotland ; an aged priest had reformed, therefore he 
must die, and so Walter Mill, in 1558, was burned as a heretic, and 
this was the ground tor the lords of the congregation, as the Coven- 
ters were called, to make a demand of the regent for a reformation of 
the religion of the country. This aged priest, for he was 82 years 
old when executed, had once been a papist, but having had his eyes 



262 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

opened by the Word of God (the Bible was now all over the coun- 
try) and the baptism ot' the Holy Ghost, he went tbrth and preached 
the word of life, and tor which he was burned to death. 

And so the demand w^as made for a reformation of religion. The 
regent, in answer, summoned some of the reformed preachers to a 
privy council. 

There were other causes determined the lords for a reformation 
beside the cruel case of the murder of a man of 82 years of age. 

On the death of the late king, a plot was discovered, under his 
sanction, of a second Bartholomew; Cardinal Beaton had, with the 
king, determined to murder all the Protestant nobles, nearl}'^ one 
hundred in number, and after that, no doubt, a bloody persecution 
of the lower order. It seemed Providence prevented it. The army 
of the country in such disgrace, and weakened by the great loss, 
that shortened the life of the king and the exposing of the plot, by 
papers being found on his person showing that the nobleman chosen 
for regent was one marked down for slaughter. 

It was found that the war had, as usual, been instigated by the 
priests, and it was proved it was done for the purpose of keeping 
any refugee from coming from England to sperad the doctrine of 
Protestantism any further. This is the work of the vicegerent of 
Christ — to set men murdering each other — no matter how ; war, or 
anything else, as long as it is done. 

StilLthings had turned out different tVom what the pagans expected ; 
the king dead, a Protestant made regent. Cardinal Beaton dead, 
wholesome laws passed, the most important of which was, the Par- 
liament made it law^ful for the Bible to be read in the people's own 
language, and in almost ever}- gentleman's house it might now be 
seen, as well as in a number of the houses of the poor; this was a 
great boon to the country, and a corresponding check to the pagans ; 
this was dreadlul heresy, so the gre}' friars thought, especially as 
the Word of God was being preached openly. 



SCOTLAND. 263 

There were man}- causes that determined the lords to make the 
demand tor a reformation in rehgion, but the mother of the young 
queen was now regent, and, of course, under the hands of the 
priests, so the application was refused, and in its place a mandate 
was issued tor the forcible suppression of the reformation. 

No one was allowed to preach, or take the sacrament from this 
date. This order was not kept. Up to this time the Qiieen Mother 
had been dissembling with the lords, but now she comes out in her full 
character. She is encouraged by the persecutions in Spain and 
France, and the promise of French soldiers for her assistance, so 
she boldly outlawed the preachers she had cited to the council, and 
also John Knox, who had just landed at Leith on the 2d of May, 

1559- 
The presence of John Knox gave fresh courage to the countr}-, 

who begun to preach as soon as he landed, exposing the pope and 

upholding the gospel. 

The hypocrisy of the Qiieen Mother was now plain to all, and it 
set the iconoclasts to their favorite amusement, and they begun to 
break the images in the churches. The monasteries, being in such bad 
repute, were also attacked. llie lords, as well as Knox, tried to 
prevent this, but it was of no use, the iconoclasts had begun, and 
must finish their work, in the destruction of these houses of ill-fame, 
for the whole country was full of reports of the horrid lives of the in- 
mates of these places. 

And so the Qiieen Mother collected an army with the intention of 
laying waste the City of Perth, but she found the reformers readv to 
meet her, and she patched up tor the time being a false peace, and 
reformers found they gained nothing by waiting ; on the con- 
trary, the best men of the country were being wasted at the stake. 

Knox begun now to preach in earnest, and it fired all Scotland : 
he also exposed to Elizabeth, who was now Qiieen of England, a 
plot of Spain and France, to invade England through Scotland, and 



264 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

to destroy the Protestantism of both countries, and to put Mary 
Stuart on the throne. 

Elizabeth sent the necessar}- help, and at the same time, Mary of 
Guise, the regent, died. 

The French troops had left for France, and the government was 
now in their own hands, and the pope's Satellites were sent from 
Scotland ; they copied England in abolishing the mass, and made it a 
severe penalt\-, even to be present at such a service, and Scotland 
rose up a new countrv in 1560. 

The j-oung Queen of Scotland had married Francis II of 
France, but he being now dead, she determined to return to her 
native country. 

Here was a fresh danger to the reformation. Mary had been 
educated amongst the woist of all bigots, the French, and in the stir- 
ring times of the prosecutions in France, including the massacre 
of Saint Bartholomew, and she could not belie\'e in anv religion 
but the pagans, she was young and beautiful, and lent towards 
the reformed partv from policy, but attended mass by permission in 
her own private chapel. This ga\-e great offense to the reformed 
preachers, who considered it an abomination and polution. 

She married her cousin, Henry Steward, Lord Darnly, July 29, 
1565, and Mary soon got tired of him. She took into favor, her 
secretary, David Rizxio, an Italian, who was murdered on March 
9, 1596: 'twas thought her husband was in the plot, through 
jealousy. She was also delivered of a son on the 19th of June, at 
the castle of Edinburg, who was afterwards James VI of Scotland. 

Her husband fell ill of the small pox and was removed to a house 
in the suburbs of Edinburg. 

This house was blown up h\ gun powder on the 9th of Februarv, 
1567, and Darnly killed. 

It was thouirht Bothwell did this murder with the knowledge of 
the Qiieen, Especially as she married Bothwell on tlie 15th of May, 



SCOTLAND. 265 

1567, who procured a divorce from his wife in order to marry the 
Qiieen. 

A short time after some letters were found that impHcated the 
Queen. Man}- doubted their being genuine. 

The nobles took up arms against her, and she was taken a prisoner 
to Edinburg, afterwards to Lochleven Castle. James VI was now 
the king. The Earl ot Murray was made regent for his nephew. 
The Catholics still hoped to make use of Mary, and a battle was 
fought at Langside on the 13th of May, 1568, and Mary's forces 
were defeated. She fled to England, and was kept prisoner by 
Elizabeth, until her execution, but Scotland was saved to the refor- 
mation. 

Who but the enemies of the welfare of mankind can look at these 
events that happened in Scotland during the tr^'ing years without 
being thankful to that providence who guarded and snatched the 
country from the paws of the Lion. When we look at the danger 
that threatened her, the combination of power arrayed against her, 
the intention of France and Spain, urged on by that wicked man, 
the pope at Rome, to conquer the country in the iriterests ot popery, 
and how near it was realized at the time of the Qiieen regent, the 
Mother of Mary, to fill Scotland with French troops, and witli them 
to begin a massacre of the Protestants ; here do we see the finger of 
God, and the realization of his words, " one shall chase a thousand, 
and two put ten thousand to flight." And this was greatlv assisted by 
that one man God sends on the scene, filled with the fire of his love 
and an earnest faith in his promises ; his zeal tires the whole count^^^ 

This man had been sent by the Catholic party to the galleys of 
France, and by this means they thought to disgrace him and render 
him useless ; but man proposr^es and God disposes ; he was held in 
reserve until the da3' was propitious, and comes at the right moment 
to the utter discomfort of his enemies. What makes this man so 
powerful? — We allude to John Knox— was it his great eloquence? 



266 



WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL; 



Not altogether ; that was much, but it wanted something else; we 
find great speakers everywhere, and frequenth- thev accomplish but 
little ; they expose themselves ; their bearers can see they are speak- 
ing for a party, and not from the heart ; they lack what John 
Knox was full of; he had the fire of God within I And what gave 
Knox this divine life ? Oh, my readers, just listen, and tr^■ to get 
the same power. It was faith in God ! He knew God ! I He never 
doubted him ; he knew the cause must be won bv faith I I Faith 
first, and God would supply the means. 

And so the souls all around him were animated as one man, and 
Protestants of Scotland caught his fire, and as their spirits went up, 
so did tear take hold of the enemies, and God removed, by death, 
those who would impede his cause ; first the king, then the regent, 
Mary and the rest. 

Elizabeth was now on the throne of England, so the pagans lost 
their hold of both countries. 

Had Scotland been lost to the reformation, to what a low depth 
she would have sunk. 

Whenever we think of the Covenanters of Scotland, although they 
are still called fanatics by a certain party, our hearts should go up in 
grateful remembrance of their faithtullnesss in the hour of need. 

Oh, that Ireland would become wise in time, and get rid of this 
disturbing element among them ; we should then hear no more of 
these troubles that fill our daily papers, for then she would rest in 
peace, and be no longer the battle ground of this expiring, so-called 
church. 

In revievving the reformation in Scotland and England we find the 
time had come when this work was o begin to throw oft" the deadly 
Leprosy of sin, forced on her by this so-called Catholic church. 

We say begin, for we think the times we have been writing 
about, was onlv an initial work, the commencement of the great re- 
formation, and there was so much rubbish to clear away, and it 



SCOTLAND. 267 

made so much dust and confusion, that the visions were clouded ; the 
world has had rest since, and whep, as we believe, the next move 
takes place, it will be done more effectually, as the ground is now 
read}' for the new structure. 

We have read the opinions of learned men on the above subject, 
and they sa}' if this or that or the other thing happened", it would 
have been different, treating it all as a matter of chance. Some sa}- 
if Knox had not been there, the whole thing would have ended in 
failure. Why, God sent him to do his work, and he, like Pharaoh, 
was raised up for this particular purpose, his baptism of sorrow fitted 
him, it ripened his natural determination ; he was sent to help the 
work already begun. The Bible has fortold this worse than Apos- 
tacy and has given it its limits : that, we believe was the fii st shaking ; 
the next we hope will be final. 

We cannot too highly praise Jolm Knox, but he was Knox of the 
sixteenth century ; the next one will be suited to his day, as Knox 
was to his. 

We do not say he will be a Scotchman, but we believe he will be 
a general reformer and as Luther drew all the continent on his side, 
so we hope all the world will rise to crush out this worse than 
Apostacy . 

Some writers treat this subject in a wholly Philosophical way, so 
do we, but a philosophy in connection with the hand of God, we do 
not believe in human reason only, we say the difficulties were so 
great and the world so hedged in by this power of darkness, that 
human aid was not sufficient to escape the various traps set for its 
ruin, especially with so many wilhng to be caught. And again many 
say, this so-called church suited the times that we repudiate ; had it 
not been in existance, a better and a more perfect church would 
have served God instead of Satan and the greater part of the wars, 
misery and darkness the world has suffered, would have been spared 
to mankind. 



268 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

A great writer has also said of Qiie en Elizabeth, "She onlv had 
for her friends, the reformers in Scotland, the Huguenots in France, 
the insurgents in the united provinces. " We ask who else could she 
have ? since the Christian world was divided between pagan and 
Protestant : 'tis a wonder she had them, seeing every man's life hung 
upon his profession, and since the difficulties were so great, we will 
say in the language of Shakespeare, " There is a divinity that shapes 
our end, rough hew them as we may." 

When God sends a manlike Knox to do his work, and that man 
puts implicit confidence in His protection, I mean what I say, that 
man's life is immortal, until his work is done. Just understand me, 
this is no loose statement. All the enemies, seen or unseen, cannot 
hurt a hair of his head. See the first reformers, beginning from 
W^xlifle, Luther, Calvin, Zwingle and others, with the enemy, 
like a roaring lion, urging on his hosts of assassins to destroy them, 
and they, calm and quiet, resting in faith, the apparently only un- 
concerned ones of them all. How Secretary Maitland and the 
pupil of Catherine de Medica, Qiieen Mary, tried to send him to 
the stake at the council, but he was spared. Some writers say if 
Scotland had been sent back to popery, she would be a worse coun- 
try, with a soil less fertile than Ireland is to-day : we know not how 
that would be, but popery has that tendency wherever it is ; we do 
insist on the fact that those who God inspires with this courage, and 
who accept it without a doubt, the powers of hell against him cannot 
prevail. Jesus was himself once in the same position — let vis take 
his own words for it. The Jews had tried to stone him in Judea, 
but he escaped out of their midst. Tiien his friend Lazarus died, 
and he said, " Let us go into Judea again. "' His disciples say, 
" Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou 
thither again." Jesus answered, see John II. part of 9, " Are there 
not twelve hours in the day ?" and what did he mean by this ? The 
same as he meant in another place, when he said, " M\- hour is 



SCOTLAND. 269 

not yet come. " He must work his full 12 hours, or the time ap- 
pointed; until that was done his life was in the hands of God, and 
so it was with all who put their lives in his keeping. 

We have, in another chapter, noticed the miserable death of some 
of the popes, kings and emperors. Very few of those who perse- 
cute God's people die well. This, we should see, is the case with 
the majority, if a record was kept of all, high and low. 

We have also spoken of the security of Luther, to his last moment 
on earth, and his happy end : he trusted God and lived in peace. 

This taith is repeated in the life of John Knox ; his spiritual eye 
was alwa3-s on God ; he had only to look to him when uncertain 
how to act, and his answer came, as no one but a man accustomed 
to communion with God understands, he lived and took God, 
through Christ as his general. 

A nod from Wellington, Grant, or Napoleon, would be sufficient, 
when there was not time for regular orders, and they would know 
their generals' mind at once. 

So does a man that trusts God ; he looks and asks, and the an- 
swer comes at once — in some short word, such as, fear not — and he 
kntnvs at once ; he is walking and acting as God wishes, and all 
fear vanishes — God takes it awav. This is no creed, written bv ec- 
clesiastical councils, but the experience of faith in God, by his chil- 
dren. And so Knox lived to the end, still trusting, and those who 
witnessed his last moments, testify to its peaceful and happy ter- 
mination. How different with his enemies, and God's? 

We pity poor Qiicen Mary of Scotland ; she was, untbrtunateh', 
taught and spoiled by the Roman Catholic church, and her head 
paid the earthly penalty. She had the knowledge that most of her 
advisers, including the popes, the French court, the Scotch, or all 
those wlio plotted with her against Protestantism, met with death, 
either by the rope, axe, poison, or in some other dreadful way. 



270 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.' 

How true the words, "Blessed is the man thai puts his trust in 
God." And again, the words, " he maketh the wrath of the wicked to 
praise him," this was exemplified in that opposite character. Henry 
VlII ; his strength was the virtue ot" the English ptiople, and so was 
enabled to make himself master of the church, not from 
any love to God, but to suit his own lusts and pride of heart. Con- 
trast him with the noble Scotch, who loved the pure religion be- 
cause they believed it to be of God. Conscience with them was 
everything. They first made themselves acquainted with the truth 
from the Bible, and then nothing short of a clean Scotland would 
satisfy them. Jesus was their high priest, and their church, or Kirk, 
was perhaps as pure and humble as the churches in the primitive 
times, and which they made their model. God blessed them in 
those days, and their descendants are being blessed in all countries, 
bv the increase of the Presbyterian churches. 

We have yet one more sound of praise for the determined Scotch. 

James VI of Scotland became king of England, and the church of 
Rome sent their tools, the Jesuits, to fill his mind with the great im- 
portance of the divine right of kings, and that he could not rule a 
country as it ought to be ruled with a church tree from the thral- 
dom of a kingly head, that is to say, these people had become free 
to worship God without a king or pope to dictate, so these Jesuits 
filled his mind with hatred for the country that dared to boast of a 
John Knox, a man who undertook to speak to the queen on the sub- 
ject of religion. 

He was no longer in Scotland, but had the resources of England 
on his side, and he left the Scotish Kirk, and became the ruler of the 
church of England. His mind was inflamed against the Scotch peers 
that once held him in check in Scotland by the influence and bad ad- 
vise of these Jesuits sent to corrupt him bv the Roman church. He 
became determined, if possible, to tbrce the Scotch people to establish 



SCOTLAND. 271 

the church of England, with bishops at its head; this caused great 
discontent in Scotland. 

The bisliops were badh- received, and found great difficulty in 
collecting the revenue for their support. 

Some laws were passed to regulate the communion, and to enforce 
the confirmation of children. The Scotch would not conform to these 
despotic measures, and so the law was not generally observed. 

Such was the state of things when King James died, on the 27th of 
March, 1625, and his son Charles I became King of England and 
Scotland. 

This king had even a greater idea of the importance of the king's 
prerogative than his father, and was determined to make the Scots 
conform to the standard of the church of England. 

Severe laws were passed to bring into effect this measure, and the 
Presbyterians were greatly incensed ; they partly submitted under 
protest for a time, but in 1637 a riot took place, and the Dean and 
Bishop of Edinburg were driven from the church. And now the 
Covenant was again signed b^' all, high or low, and in 1638 thev re- 
ceived the name of Covenanters, and after a stormy lime, amid procla- 
mations and threatenings from the king, the obnoxious laws were re- 
pealed, and the Scots retained their religion without interferance 
from king, pope, or any other enemy of the real church of Christ. 

- Still the danger was great ; the pope kept the countries at war, 
and after the execution of Charles I, 1649, the unsettled state of the 
countr}' under Cromwell, the death of Charles II, and the throne of 
England being occupied by James II, who was a bitter enemy to 
Protestantism, and more so of the Presbyterian form, he made great 
persecutions against the Covenanters, who were treated brutally. 

This king tried to bring back the popish religion into England, 
until William of Orange was invited to claim the crown, and James 
II left the countr}', and William and Mary became King and Qiieen 
of England and Scotland, w^hich was a great gain for all, especially 
for the latter country. 



272 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

God made England and Scotland the greatest nursery of his re- 
stored church, the church that had been in the wilderness, as long 
as the power of Rome lasted : at this time the Huguenots had been 
almost destroyed ; that monster Philip II had ruined Spain and many 
of the German places had lost their first love under persecution, but 
England with Scotland stands forth as the bright spot of the world, 
and by their means the Colonies became Protestant, and God has 
poured down, since then great blessings, upon the countr}'. Xo 
wonder Rome hates her, and is always setting up some one to yility 
her name and character, and after all these years of separation from 
Rome, we find this same country being pursued by the same old 
enemy, only in another furm. She is like the Chameleon — can 
change her color. No stakes to-day, but they will return if popery 
is not mastered. 

The writer has at this moment, two subjects before him, one of 
which is a book, the other a newspaper, the year 1891. The book 
is from England, the newspaper here ; they are both the outcome of 
the same system, and the thought comes, he can use them in this 
chapter to advantage. 

In the newspaper it saj's, a bishop of this Roman church is going 
to spend here $100,000 to realize the ambition of his life, nameh', to 
build a Theological Seminary, tor higher Theological study. Just 
let us repeat the words, higher Theological study. And then re- 
member it is for the study of the same popery that has blackened the 
pages of history, and which, nearly the whole of Europe is tr3ing 
to shake oft' to-day. 

Could not this money be put to a better use? 

The book is entitled, '"Darkest England," and can we not charge 
this papacy with a great deal of the evils spoken of in that book? 

What has made England dark ; is it not the want of true religion, 
and did not her people groan for centuries for freedom to choose 
her religion? And the only, only answer was the stake. And after 



SCOTLAND. 273 

Henry VIII threw off the head of this spiritual slavei-y, and after 
many reforms in the church of England, do we not find the same 
evil being again introduced by the ritualism of this church, the 
heads of it being split up into high and low church? Where does 
Christ divide his church into different classes? His religion is for 
the poor, the poor in spirit ; where is the room for these poor crea- 
tures to hear the word of God, that have no place to lay their heads, 
excepting the cold streets, while the preachers with livings ihai will be 
a load to carry many of them down, are contending about higher 
Theological stud}^ and bringing the church again in to the hands of 
the enemy? Some of its preachers are pagans in disguise, and 
whose object is to bring the country back, through this church, to the 
religion of the dark ages. Protestantism believes in educating the 
millions, popery loves ignorance. 

Booth, in his book, page 44, says, " How can we marvel if, after 
leaving generation after generation to grow up uneducated and under 
fed, there should be developed a heredity of incapacity, and that 
thousands of dull-witted people should be born into the world, dis- 
inherited before their birth, of their share in the average intelligence 
of mankind ? " and then he says, on page 45, " The difference be- 
tween the method which seeks to regenerate the man by ameliorat- 
ing his circumstances in order to get at the regeneration of his heart, 
is the difference between the method of the gardener, who grafts a 
Ribstone Pippin on a crab apple tree, and one who merely ties ap- 
ples with a string, upon the branches of the crab. 

To change the nature of the individual, to get at the heart, to 
save his soul, is the only real, lasting method of doing him any 
good. In man}- modern schemes of social regeneration, it is forgot- 
ten tiiat it takes a soul to move a body, even to a cleaner st}-, and at 
the risk ol being misunderstood, and misrepresented, I must assert 
in the most unqualified way, that it is primarily and mainly tor the 
sake of saving the soul that I seek the salvation of the body." 



274 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Ycs, first of all, save the soul, and in the writer's opinion, that is 
the highest tiieological study; of course, he is not at variance with 
theology of the right kind — taken from the Bible. 

The statements in General Booth's book, no one who is actually 
acquainted with London can disbelieve ; still, there are thousands 
living there who are as ignorant of these facts as if they never heard 
of the place. They ride, whirl, dance, drive, dine, wine, church 
away their time, and know nothing about the suffering poor, 
and would be horrified if they came in contact with one of these poor 
creatures. 

And yet they have charitable hearts, and would give a helping 
hand willingly to cases of distress ; but the trouble is they know 
nothing about such cases. 

And who ever, before Booth's time, brought forth such a vast 
scheme for the w^elfare of mankind. The destin}- of the people are, 
■or ought to be, the consideration of the living church of the God ? 

And now let us ask, what church has ever brought forth such a 
scheme before ? 

The Roman Catholic church, when it had control, thought more of 
burning the bodies alive, than looking after the comfort of the poor, 
more of hiding and misinterpreting the Word of God, and living 
luxuriantly andunrighteouslv, than of bettering the people's condition. 

One may sav, wh}', there never was such a condition before. We 
answer, this is the first place heard from, and London 
being the largest city in the world, it furnishes its largest quota. 

No man, unless he has spent his time investigating these things, 
could have the knowledge to write about it ; some may partly know, 
but be indifferent, or not take it to heart sufficiently. Supposing 
Paris or many large places were heard from ; we know from experi- 
ence the term, "darkest," would equally supply. We ask, who is 
responsable for these things ? 



SCOTLAND. 275 

If there is any virtue in a church, or churches, is this the best 
fruit of eighteen hundred years' growth, or can we not produce, in 
the next twenty or fifty years, a better state of things, by having a 
real reformation, and cHnging altogether to the Word of God ? The 
old system of playing with religion will not do any longer. 

It will not do to cry shame of the Londoners, or New Yorkers, 
and then to find we have the same things going on in our own city. 
If we are satisfied our skirts are clear, then we may cast the first 
stone. 

This book is written for no other purpose than to show up the 
evils of the pagan church, and this is partly a digression from the 
Scottish history, but as we are in for it, we maj- as well go a little 
farther. 

Is there not a great lesson to be learnt from these things ? If 
we believe the world is left entirely to itself, and that God has 
allowed the people to do as they please, why, then we can go on 
as we have been doing ; but if he has left the w^elfare of the world 
to his church, would it not appear, by his raising up another 
branch, namely, the Salvation Army, that he is not satisfied with 
the work that has been done, and that the Protestants are in some 
measure to blame ? A word to the wise is sufficient. 

And here let us say. no Christian will deny, the Salvationists are 
a part of the church of God; in some places they have lost ground, 
and we may not like their tactics, but listen to their doctrine ; do 
they not preach the Word of God? and have they not reached souls 
that would have been lost without them ? Is not the good they have 
done, bv following the outcasts, acceptable in the sight of God ? 
And what church has such a record of love as we find given to the 
founders of this army ? to General Booth, and to his partner in life ; 
can we anywhere find such a spontaneous love from hearts that have 
been benefited as was shown at the funeral of the wife and helper of 
the General ? Over twenty thousand followers, calling her from 
the bottom of their hearts, mother I 



276 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

How different to the execrations of Romanists, sometimes, on tiie 
death o(^ their popes, occasionally dragging the diseased body 
through Rome, and casting it into the Tiber. 

We hear of nothing to equal this lady's funeral, excepting in the 
case of Jerr}^ McCaull}-, in New York city. These tributes from 
the poor in spirit teach a great lesson ; they come from hearts feel- 
ing they have been neglected, but know not who to blame. Now 
they have been drawn bv love, in a loving manner, and this is their 
method of expression. Could not all ministers be loved in the same 
way? If not in quantity, at least in quality. We laymen ought 
to look into our hearts for the answer. As a rule, the evangelical 
ministers do their part well, but as Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, 
" I have somewhat against thee." I believe that applies to most of 
you, for not first making yourself fully acquainted with the history 
of the Roman church, and then educating your people on the sub- 
ject. The greatest weapon for safety, to anv country would be to 
teach all children, and with no exception, the history of the 
popish church. It would vanish before this, like snow in the noon 
day's sun. It would be the most effectual way to counteract the 
evil teachings of the Jesuits. Oh, what a howl we should hear 
from the Vatican. 

But to return to the subject of building a seminary tor perpetuating 
the religion of popery. Is the money well spent? When done, will 
it solve the problem of vice and misery, povert}' and irreligion of 
the people? Did the Church of Rome ever make such an effort for 
the people's good as Mr. Booth is doing ? They spent money 
lavishly to enslave the heart to their system ; money is of no conse- 
quence when put into large buildings, but lias experience shown 
this to be of any practical benefit to mankind, would it raise up 
from the gutter a Jerry McCaully, or any of these thousands of lost 
souls that are to-day in all of our chies, reduced almost below the 
help of even such men as General Booth? We find in the history 



SCOTLAND. 277 

of the Roman Catholic church, that when they wanted to increase 
the piety of a country, tlaey made some new buildings, or added 
one or two feast days, or fast days, also saints, to an already over- 
burdened list, and that seemed to be all they knew as a remedy 
against such evils as Mr. Booth speaks of, for nations have boiled 
over in their misery man}- times before to-day. 

No, the building of such places only helps to make more of the 
people that would prevent such men as General Booth from doing 
good. 

Who are they that are found in all countries, making disturb- 
ances at meetings opened for the purpose of saving souls ? The an- 
swer is, nearl}' always, Roman Catholics. The writer has been at 
such disturbances, and has noticed, if they were not always mem- 
bers of the Roman church, they were of the lowest kind, led on 
by the papists. I should be sorry to make a statement I could not 
prove outside of my own experience, so let me ask my readers, 
who are these I copy from, in this morning's paper, January 12, 
1889, and headed, "A disgraceful exhibition?" Judge for your- 
selves. 

"Brussels, January 11, 1891. 

The opening of a new hall b}' the Salvation Army in this city to- 
day was the occasion of a disgraceful exhibition of rowdyism by a 
crowd of roughs. An elaborate programme had been arranged by 
the Salvation Army leaders for the dedication of their hall, and a 
large crowd of interested spectators was present. 

While the services were in progress, a mob proceeded to inter- 
rupt the religious exercises. 

When the Salvationists started a hymn, the mob responded with 
the 'Marseillaise,' or a comic song, and after futile efforts to re- 
store order, the army retired in disgust." 

The paper did not state where this Brussels was situated, so we 
concluded it is the one in Belgium, and that it was French Catho- 
lics who were disturbing the meeting by their singing the "Marseill- 
aise." Still, other proofs can be found ; we could give scores of 



278 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

such work, but one or so will do. We now copy from Edith O'Gor- 
man's Book, page 210. This is in Protestant England. 

"At the conclusion of the Wednesday night's lecture, when we left 
the hall, we could scarcely reach our carriage, because of the hun- 
dreds of papists who, as usual, were assembled in mob force. 

As soon as we succeeded in entering the cab, it was rapidly 
driven away in the direction of our hotel, followed by crowds of 
shrieking papists. Although the cab was being driven away at a 
rapid pace, one ruffianly coward had the audacity to thrust his 
hideous face in through the open cab window, in order to see my 
position in the cab, so that he could take a deadly aim at me, which, 
as soon as he had noted my position, he threw with all his brute 
force a large iron chinker, weighing over two pounds, at my head. 
Providentially, I had just at that moment altered mv position by re- 
clining back in the carriage, therefore the heavy clinker grazed my 
nose." Then, on page 213, "Ariving in Tyldsley, we found a very 
large and rough crowd of papists, who had followed Rev. J. Crook 
to the station, and were awaiting us with the desire of manifesting 
their spite in the usual cowardly manner. 

But whatever vengeance they had intended to wreak on us was 
frustrated, and frightened out of their cravenly hearts, before the 
imposing array of such a numerous company of stalwart defenders 
of the peace. It was truly amusing to see the fear and dismay ex- 
pressed in their faces. 

While shirking away they gave expression to their surprise, in the 
characteristic style, as, 'Begorra I she has brought plenty of bobbies 
to defend her I ' 'Faix, she travels with a strong body of guards.' 
'Och ! the crather I but the company or" peelers will not save her ! ' 

'Never fear, but we'll get at the , bad cess to the bobbies,' 

&€., &c." 



SCOTLAND. 279 

Now let US change the scene to Canada. 

" Hull, Ont., February, 12, 1890. 

A small band of Protestant Evangelists from Ottawa, some twenty 
in number, including four or five women, some time ago announced 
that they would hold evangelical services in Hull, which is inhabited 
almost entirely by French Roman Catholics. They were warned 
that serious trouble would result, but in spite of the warning, visited 
that citv, and begun religious services in a small mission hall. In 
another portion of the city, a crowd of the roughest characters in the 
cit\' congregated and marched through the streets, armed with re- 
volvers, shot guns, and all kinds ^of missils. The crowd increased 
in numbers with great rapidity until they reached the street, in front 
of the mission hall, where over one thousand people were crowded 
about the building, swearing vengeance on the little band inside. 
The police were powerless to disperse the mob. The mayor and two 
aldermen, who tried to address the crowd, were stoned and seriously 
inured. The appearance of one of the Evangelists at a window was 
the signal for a perfect storm of stones. A charge was made for 
the building, windows and doors were demolished, and the mob 
rushed in, tiring revolvers and shotguns, and hurling stones. Six of 
the little band, including two women, were seriously injured. The 
rest escaped through a back window and beat a hasty retreat to 
Ottawa." 

Does not this speak for itself? East, West, North and South, these 
people are led on by one spirit, to cling to evil and despise the 
good. 

One of the favorite statements of this institution is to say, "If the 
priests or ptiople are ever so bad, that does not effect the church, the 
church cannot help it." What stuff' and nonsense. "Ye shall know 
them by their fruits." Can men gather grapes from thorns, or figs 
from thistles? 

And do we want m our midst any more of this higher class of 
Theology that cannot produce anything better than this? 

It may be said there are plenty of roughs that come under the 
name of Protestant ; this may be, but do you find any such belonging 



28o WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

to our churches? No ! ! God's rehgion takes hold of the heart and 
makes men into new creatures, be they Greek or pagan. 

We left off our remarks on Scotland at the time she had become 
free from the spiritual bondage; this was a necessity of their pro- 
gressive existence ; the difference of that generation was this — they 
knew their enemies from bitter experience, but the present race have 
it all to learn, unless they take for their guide the history of the past, 
and which is within the reach of all. 

If you are careless and will not find out for yourselves, you ma}' 
have to go through the same horrors as did your forefathers. Ma}' 
the courage, wisdom and piety of the present generation shield Scot- 
land from such a fate. 



CHAPTER XI. 
CALVIN AND GENEVA. 

"Let me die ihe death of the righteous, and let my last end be like His." 
Numbers XXIII, lo. 

IN our remarks on France, we spoke of one John Calvin, who was 
born on the lOth of July, 1509, at Noyon, in Ricardy, and who 
had to flee from his native France through the persecutions to 
the Protestants. 

He was contemporary with Luther, and a vast host of leformers, 
whom God had raised up in order to restore the church of Christ 
that had been driven in the wilderness by the usurpations of the 
Roman Catholic church, so-called. And at the time we resume the 
thread of this u'reat reformer's life, things were looking dismal for 
this pagan church. The world was beginning to taste the blessings 
of free speech, which had been so long crushed out. 

Talented writers were sending their opinions broadcast over Chris- 
tendom, and this terrible monster at Rome found a power afloat be- 
yond his ability to suppress. Still, he was determined to use all the 
power, cunning and cruelty at his disposal to carr}- out his purpose, 
and if necessary to destroy every man or woman that dared to have 
an opinion fatal to his satanical doctrines. Nearly half of Europe 
had determined to throw oft" the idolatr}- of poperv, and embrace 
Christ's teachings from the Bible. 



282 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The papal church had been over twenty years trying to restore the 
power they had lost b}' every available means ; deceptions, flatterv, 
spending large sums of money, and where these did not succeed, 
the stake, and other cruelties ; but to no purpose as far as they were 
concerned, tor the converts increased, and the task seemed hopeless. 

Yet, we know the determination of Satan, and he did not, or never 
will cease, as long as he can influence his human Satellities to assist 
in carrying on his evil work ; at the time we are writing, we find 
him busy in the p-rson of Cardinal Sadoleto, who is trying by soft 
words to undo, in Geneva, that which Calvin had so laboriously tried 
to achieve, nameh^ the reformation of chat citv. It had for centur- 
ies under papal rule, been one of the most tyrannical, impious, 
profligate, wretched places, and the religion Rome had taught it bore 
its fruits in gambling, swearing, card and dice playing, fighting, in- 
decent shows and ever3ahing immoral. 

The best people of Geneva had long groaned to lift its burden, and 
when the doctrines of the Bible had, b}^ Luther and others, been 
sown broadcast, they partook of the blessings this word of God 
offered. 

And God, at the right time, sent Calvin to teach them, and so 
he became their minister, dispensing the word of life, which was 
eagerly devoured, and a great reformation took place. 

For a time things went on as well as could be expected : 01 
course a city like that contained many that wanted to live as be- 
fore ; they had no desire to give up their sins, and therefore 
clung to the old Roman church, who is so liberal to all that have 
money to offer. That and the idolatry of transubstantiation brought 
on trouble which caused Calvin to leave, and they were again a 
flock without a shepherd. Still many had tasted the blessings of 
God's free grace, and conld not be easily drawn back to the 
toils ; we now find this Cardinal Sadoleto trying to impose upon 
them once more. 



CALVIuN AND GENEVA. 283 

This Cardinal had written to the Senate and people of Geneva, 
a cunning letter. Although it did not produce the effect desired, 
still they would like to answer it, and could not find one of their 
party able to reply. 

Now they missed their champion. If Calvin was only here — 
but alas he was away. 

But Calvin hears of this letter, and, unasked, replies to it, and 
soon kills all the fine spun arguments of the wily Cardinal, and 
the desire to have him once more amongst them increases, and so 
things are put in training order to have him return. 

Many events have happened to the people of Geneva, of which it 
is not our purpose to speak, during the few 3-ears Calvin was 
away. 

One great thing to him, he takes to himself a partner for life ; one 
who, like himself, has the cause of God at heart, and assists him in 
his labors of love — and as such do we find him once more returned 
to Geneva. 

And now commences his gigantic work; all power is now taken 
from the Roman church, and is given to a general council of the 
people. All ministers are appointed by this council and a code of 
laws are made to govern the city. 

Very soon after his arrival, Calvin addresses a large body of citi- 
zens at the cathedral, on the awful state of the world ; nations were 
tearing each other to pieces, which seemed to be a retribution to 
those who refused the word of God, and wished still to cling to 
idols. 

It may be asked why cm Geneva escape among all this strife? 

This place was well adapted for defensive opperations, and the 
pope, as well as Europe, was too busy at this time to offer any very 
large aggressive demonstration ; it must have been so situated with 
the lakes and mountains around :t, that an arm}^ would have had 
with the weapons of that day much difficulty to take it ; we do not 



284 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

say it was impregnable ; a large army could, after a siege, no doubt, 
become masters; but joined to its natural resources, were the arms 
of providence, which would not permit it to be disturbed. These 
places seem reserved by the hand of God, as the nursery of the real 
church of Christ, and do not these places form part of the wilderness 
spoken of by John the revelator? 

The formation of England is on the same principle. An island, 
with the sea air always blowing upon her from every quarter, invig- 
orating the constitution. 

This island, together with Scotland, was chosen of God for the 
sheltering of Christ's church, and for the spreading of the Gospel to 
the uttermost ends of the earth ; for this she has been made great, 
and if she falls, it will be brought about by her neglect of duty in this 
respect. Her troubles are beginning, and date from the hour per- 
mission was given to Cardinal Wiseman to remain in opposition to 
the Welshes of the people. 

And so we find Calvin, shut in from the world, and yet able to 
open their gates to all fugitives seeking their aid, and to send forth 
messages of love and peace, encouraging others to go on in the mighty 
task of fighting this sinful and corrupt church as well as to build up 
the kingdom of our Lord. 

And now for several years Calvin labors hard to complete the re- 
formation of Geneva. 

Wise laws are made for the governing of the city, and all based on 
the word of God ; nothing is done in a hurry, plenty of time is given 
for deliberation, and the whole of the people are asked to co-operate 
in the framing of these laws, so that Geneva becomes a miniature 
Republic. All former evil habits are suppressed. 

Stated times on week davs are appointed for the worship of God, 
as well as the Sabbath day, and everything is done to make the 
people happy, and all could co-operate in the framing of the laws 
and be interested in their observance. How different from the old 



CALVIN AND GENEVA. 285 

hierarchy of Rome, govenned by one man, who looked on thr tem- 
poral or spiritual interests as nothing compared to his will, or the 
money he could fleece them out of. Compare the present state of 
things to the groanings of the people under the iron laws of this des- 
potic church, so-called, and it will show what Christianity was doing 
under Calvin for Geneva, and what it was willing to do for all the 
world, and what it will do when this tyrant is out of the way. 

As the enemy of souls looked on the garden of Eden, with the 
purpose of introducing strife, sin and rebellion, so does this pope 
look on this now happy city, and begins to stir up in the minds of 
the adherentsof this church, the evil that has been kept in subjection, 
until now, under the government of Calvin. 

These libertines had looked on with wonder to see the change 
from the old idleness, povert}^ wretchedness and other evils, to the 
now happy homes, the busy workmen, the absence of crime, the 
schools, the arts flourishing under what Rome had stigmatized as 
heresy, the change was wonderful, and it had for a time restrained 
them, but now they wished to break the yoke, and they begin by 
disturbing Calvin in one of his lectures at the cathedral, by noise, 
laughter and a pretended disagreement among themselves. 

We have met with such disturbers at meetings, particular]}^ at gaol 
service ; have seen men, no doubt prompted, in the midst of service 
bring newspapers Or books out of their pockets and begin to read, 
showing their indifference ; of course they were remonstrated with 
and had to put their papers down, or return to their cells ; v\e have 
found out afterwards, they were always Roman Catholics. 

It has been said by some writers that the Church of Rome has 
done its part in the formation of society. As it is constituted to-day, 
how can that be ; do not facts deny such a statement, would not the 
people, if Christianity had not been hid from their eyes, have ad- 
vanced to the present stage of intelligence many centuries sooner ? 
Men have sought in all ages for improvement, but have been kept 



286 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

back by circumstances ; this is more true of the Christian era : when- 
ever a desire for improvement has been felt, it has had to be stifled 
in the breasts of those whose aspirations led them on in that direc- 
tion ; they feared and was prevented by this so-called church ; we 
take two cases out of the many, as examples ; one is before us, in the 
City of Geneva ; a grand movement is on foot to root out the evils, 
the Iruits of past teachings, and they succeed bej'ond anything as 
3^et brought forward, when lo ! we see the old leaven at work, tr3-ing 
to pull down all the good accomplished, and bring back the same 
state of things. 

The other case is England ; almost at the same time do we find a 
a revolution got up in favor of the old popery that had been sup- 
pressed in the time of Henry VIII. The pope is now working 
through Queen Mary, in England, as he was through the libertines 
at Geneva, to destroy the good, and again set up the evil. 

And is not the very same system working to-da}', in most coun- 
tries ? in England, thi'ough her state church, in America, her poli- 
tics, elections, and other things, and so she has pointed every na- 
tion that has allowed her to come within her territorv. She beffins 
humble and treacherous at first, but intends, if possible, to end as 
master. 

Who were these libertines? we find them everywhere. In Roman 
Catholic countries they call themselves good Catholics for fear of the 
penalty of being anything else ; the}' have no settled view of God, 
except as He dwells in everything : an3'thing is God, the lower 
class, as a general rule, where they can with impunity, become 
lawless ; the}^ indulge in the lower passions and frequently talk loud 
about liberty. 

The Roman Catholic religion gives them license by payment to 
live nearly as they please, and so they cling to it, in preference to 
being restrained by the true church. In free countries man}- do not 



CALVIN AND GENEVA. 287 

belong to any church ; the better class are more orderly, and some 
connect themselves with churches because it is fashionable to be a 
church member. 

It was mostly the lower class of this element that had now taken 
courage to disturb Calvin in the meeting above spoken of. 

It says, in God's Word, Constantine should rule the nations with 
a rod of iron ; that being the necessity of the times, so it was in the 
little republic of Geneva. A code of very stringent laws were en- 
acted to keep the lawless in order, and both the upper and lower 
classes of libertines felt a great restraint and consequently hated 
Calvin as the author. 

These people are nearly always the fruits of Catholicism. How 
can we expect anything else ? the onlv thing that can teach them is 
taken away, the Bible, and they are told that poper^' represents 
Christ, and they see the bishops, priests and popes living such disso- 
lute lives, oppressing them in every possible way, from thecradle, to, 
and beyond the grave, money, they see is their God, politics the lad- 
der through which they climb into notice, preferment and power, 
and so their confidence is shaken in religion, or God ; popery only 
dwelling in outward forms, it does not, like the apostolic teachings, 
bring them face to face with God, so they detest at last the very name 
of religion, and turn infidels, Pantheists, or both. 

What a different life Calvin lead to the priests of the papal church ; 
he was abstemious in all things, not making a God of his appetite's, 
he reduced the church to a system, the ministers were educated, and 
examined weekly, and sermons given by one and listened to bv all, 
so that the orthodoxy could be maintained. No one could creep in 
under the pretence of religion without being at once discovered. This 
was becoming a model city, sending forth from its gates a law for 
the guidance of Christendom, therefore it was important ; ever3'thing 
amongst the church, ministers and members, should be pure and 
worthy of imitation. 



288 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

This was a gigantic labor to perform, but Calvin was equal to the 
task, his eye was upon every place, sending forth messages of love 
and kindness, which could not have been done, to be appreciated, 
unless the fountain head was itself pure, and also known to be so. 

Geneva was with some exceptions what the whole of Christendom 
ought to have been if anti-Christ had not come in amongst it. 

The Roman church looked on with rage and malice, and called 
this order confusion. The driving out of all the dens ofiniquit}', the 
rioting, the blasphemy, the drunkenness, idleness and poverty had 
been changed to industry and plenty, and schools of useful learning 
had been set up in its place, and this, the so-called church, called 
heresy ! ! Well ! ! Give us a little more heresy, it will not harm us, 
as the Church of Rome was litterally sent away, and had no word 
to say in the management of this place ; it uses the only tools at hand, 
namely, the restrained, disorderly ones, and so we find them be- 
ginning to do their master's work in the disturbance of the meeting 
spoken of. 

We feel some sentences that were passed by the council of two 
hundred against the frivolous inhabitants may have been severe, and 
yet Geneva was on its trial. A spirit of weakness at that time 
would have ended in the defeat of the Christians, and advantage 
gained by Roman Catholics. 

Several evil proposals had been brought forward by the higher 
class of libertines and condemned, one of which was a community 
of goods, houses and person, but the authors were sent to prison. 
Infidelity of the worst kind was proven against a late priest who 
had been somehow received in the council of two hundred, and 
and also treachery on his part, for which crime he was beheaded. 
He was about to deliver up the city to the duke ; this was no 
doubt of the Jesuit type. 

About this tim.i one Michael Servetus arrived in Geneva ; this man 
could not please Protestants, Catholics, or hardly anyone but infi- 
dels. He had forfeited his life under the popish laws, in fact a 



CALVIN AND GENEVA. 289 

warrant for his apprehension had followed him from Vienna to 
Geneva, but they refused to deliver him : he had written a book 
which contained Pantheistic doctrines, also denied the trinity, and 
that Jesus Christ was not the Son of God ; before he became a 
man on earth, that he had had no previous knowledge of God ; also 
other thoughts, fatal to the doctrines of the Bible. 

It would not do to allow the introduction of such a creed in 
Geneva ; it could not end there ; but as all eyes were on that city 
any such doctrine would spread all over Christendom, injuring the 
gospel of Jesus Christ and the apostles, but giving great encourage- 
ment to the man}^ false creeds already afloat. 

It is thought strange he should make Geneva his home, being the 
last place, with Calvin at its head, that such doctrines could be tol- 
erated. Many think he was invited by the libertines and 
that he was with them to oppose Calvin, but whatever his views 
were, he had not time to mature them, for a complaint was laid 
against him, and he was arrested through the means of Calvin. 

An indictment was first entered against him in reference to some 
statements made in his book, but afterwards a fresh indictment 
was preferred by the Attorne\''-General, of a graver character, 
charging him with being guilty of blasphemy, heresy, and offenses 
against society ; there were several hearings before the case was de- 
cided, but at last he was condemned to be burnt alive, and his books 
consumed, which judgment was carried into effect on the following 
day outside of the city. 

How this verdict of the Christians shows the danger of bad ex- 
ample ; how contagious evil is ; how easy to become harsh and im- 
perious, living in an age of despotism. 

We have often tried to realize what the civilization of a people could 
be that could order a man to die by crucifixion, as our Saviour died, 
to nail a man to a tree, and then leave him to die, as it were, by 
inches, or to sacrifice men in the arena, throw them to wild beasts. 



290 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

to tear them to pieces, and sit and enjoy the dying agonies ; this was 
one of the traits of the old pagans ; thev were eager tor the sacrifice 
of blood, and the resurrected pagans, the Roman Catholics, partook 
of the same nature ; they thirsted for blood, and to it must be added 
the horrid penalty of the agonies of burning, and this did not satisfy, 
so slow burning, with other luxuries, must be added to make the 
' repast complete. 

We suffer many things to exist in our midst, because it has be- 
come the custom, or otherwise we should not permit them ; 'tis so 
with the saloon ; it has been here from our birth ; we have become 
used to it, and its deformities seem hidden; remo\'e it tor fit'iv years, 
and then if a man had the audacity to open one to sell his neighbor 
drink, to rob him of his money, and also of soul and bod}', me- 
thinks riding him out of the city on a rail would be the smallest- 
immediate penalt^'. 

We, in this age, are accustomed to pagan worship in the name 
•of Christianity, and it has come on us by slow degrees, and so we 
permit it, and shall, probably, until it becomes too glaring; then 
we shall try to put a stop to it, but shall find it has so hedged us in 
that, like pitch, it will be almost necessary to tear oft the skin be- 
fore we can rid ourselves of it. 

Evil communications corrupt good manners ; any corrupt system 
amongst us reproduces its own likeness. It must have been so with 
the people at Geneva : the-\' were so accustomed to these horrid 
burnings that the}' did not hesitate to order the same cruelty in the 
person of Servetus. 

We do not agree with some writers, who say, Calvin labored to 
burn Servetus. Calvin worked for a principle — to defend the gos- 
pel — he had no right to look at the penalty that rested with the law- 
makers ; his vvor'< ended when the principle was defended If we 
should look at the results to the offender, we could never convict 
criminals. Such a writer as Gibbon, great as he may be thought 



CALVIN AND GENEVA. 29I 

as an historian, was evidenth' not tit to judge tlie motives of a man 
like Calvin ; he, Gibbon, was, to say the least, a skeptic, and knew 
nothing about the workings of a heart accustomed to communion 
with God. 

It is also evident that Calvin tried to substitute the sword for the 
fire. 

Of the two Greatest men on whom the reformation depended, one 
had gone to his reward, we mean Luther, and the directing of the 
church was now greatly in the hands of Calvin ; we can hardly 
imagine the great task Calvin took upon himself ; if it had been 
Geneva only, and that was immense, his labors would have compa- 
ratively easy ; but all countries sought a correspondence with him. 

We find him sending messages almost everywhere ; to the prisoner 
in his cell, to the martyr at tlie stake, to Germany, France, Spain, 
England and other places ; he corresponded with the Duke of 
Somerset, Lord protector of England, with the Primate, Crarmer, 
in the time of Edward V^ I, also the king himself; this voung king 
had been brought up a Protestant, and gladly received the advice of 
Calvin. . 

A great deal of correspondence was answered, and many thank- 
ful hearts were opened to him, and bright prospects came from some 
parts, while from others it told of the stake, how many bright and 
useful bodies it consumed, how much opposition was brought to 
bear everywhere on these weak, and in some cases, helpless workers 
for the Lord. All this gave him great anxiety and must have worn 
out his poor body, but the Lord gave him daily strength, and kept 
up his heart by faith, and with all this he found time for sending 
well written and striking articles to the different publications of the 
day. Also his commentaries on parts of the old and new testament, 
and sending and dedicating them to the persons whom he thought 
they would most benefit. 



292 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

Does anyone think he spent an idle life? troubles being mixed up 
with it all, one of which, and to him the greatest, next to the triumph 
of the Gospel, was the loss of his best friend, in the person of his 
wi^e. 

And after the death of the young king, Edward VI, of England, 
and the dark cloud that came over her in Queen Mary's time 
sent her back to the horrors of popery. 

iVIany a prayer went up to God in her behalf, from the heart of 
Calvin, whose prayers always reached the mercy seat, and after a 
time God in his mercy relieved England from her evil presence, and 
put in herplace Elizabeth, whose young heart needed such advice as 
Calvin sent her, and no doubt helped her in the church manage- 
ment. 

And then we find that zealous soul, Knox of Scotland ; he had 
been to Geneva, and these kindred hearts met, and exchanged views, 
and strengthened each other; and no doubt the heart of Knox was 
fired by the experience of Calvin, and it bore its fruits in Scotland, 
so although Calvin was, as it were, shut up in Geneva, still his 
presence was felt in every nation in Christendom. 

Some people may pass their lives without knowing or even sus- 
pecting the meanness of their fellow creatures are capable of, others 
may have witnessed it often in their experience. 

In some cases it is only necessary to go into some town governed 
b}' a clique, and oppose their favorite dogmas or politics, and then 
3'ou will see what human nature is capable of, even in this year of 
our Lord, i8gi. 

Such a clique was trying hard to rule Geneva, and to break down 
all the good Calvin had done. 

Calvin had the knowledge of the fact of his being hated by this 
clique, the Libertines ; they would gladly send him forth again, and 
have the field to themselves, so they annoyed him and his parly in 



CALVIN AND GENEVA. 293 

various petty ways ; they could not withstand them to the face, so 
they would obstruct the public walks, and make course remarks as 
any of them passed ; also creating disturbances in the streets at 
night after partaking too much of the cup^ and singing obscene 
songs, mixing .with them the songs of the Gospel ; this was the fore- 
runner of a great trial for Calvin. 

Many will say these were not Catholics that made these distur- 
bances, but are they not the same people as call themselves by that 
name in countries where it is dangerous to go by any other? And 
they acted out the tactics of Romanism in trying to suppress the 
preaching, and also to get up a mob to massacre those who had 
taken refuge in their city, and were compelled to flee from their own 
towns from persecutions of the Catholics. 

All this was added to the already burdensome life of Calvin, still, 
providence watched over the city and confounded the conspirators, 
and brought many to trial, some of which went through the death 
penally, others were banished, and some made discretion their part 
of valor, b}^ leaving the city, and so peace was once more restored 
to Geneva. 

What a grand and noble instinct God has implanted in the human 
heart, the love of country. Calvin was in Switzerland, yet his heart 
went forth in love for his native France ; had lie remained there, he 
might have lost his life among the many victims to this tyrannical 
power that he would not shrink from ; but his life was spared, and 
he watched over the Protestants in France, sending them advise and 
building them up in the truths of the Gospel, so that about this time, 
nearly half of France was Protestant. And so he continues doing 
battle for the Lord until the day arrives when he is to preach his last 
sermon ; he is taken in the pulpit with a severe cough and spitting 
of blood, and all that see him go down the stairs, which is done 
amid great silence, and occasional sobs, feel he has spoken his 
last words to them from that sacred desk. 



294 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

Still, he lingers for a few months, and gives all the opportunity of 
bidding him farewell. His old friend Farrel has the satisfaction of 
clasping the hand of clay once more, feeling assured in a very 
short time they will meet on the other side. 

A gloom was over the hearts of all the reformers in and out of 
Geneva ; every country was interested. Even Rome looked on, 
but with different feelings. She dared to call him her enemy, and 
in doing so, condemned herself. She merely thought his death would 
end the battle, at least in Geneva. What ignorance of the divine 
principle of the religion of Christ ? Is God so weak that one taken 
away should end his cause ? Calvin will live in the hearts of the 
people. His beautiful writings will live until the bones of the popes 
have long gone to decay : yea, they will live long after every vestige 
of popery, we hope, has iaded from the earth ; nothing of it left 
but its detestable history. 

And now on the 27th of May, 1564, God took him to himself: he 
died with the word of God in his mouth, certain of a glorious resur- 
rection and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of God : he was 
comparatively young, barely 55 years of age, but what a lesson to 
most of us, when we take into consideration the amount of labor, 
on this side, he performed in those fewyears ? 



CHAPTER XII. 
HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA 

God hath made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions." 
Ecclesiastes XXIX., 7. 

THE Magyars or Hungarians, a tribe of men coming from Asia, 
were, as their history shows, naturally religious, as far as to 
them the light appeared, for in first settling in Hungary in the 
ninth century, their religion was idolatrous. Mars was their prin- 
cipal deity. 

They worshiped the earth, fire, the sun, moon, also a goddess, 
Rasdi. 

A little before this time, Charlemagne, it is said, introduced, not 
without bloodshed, Christianity into Germany, which must have 
been popery, mistaken for Christianity, for this king was a Roman 
Catholic, as his securing the states of the church to the pope proves. 

This soon spread into other places, such as Bohemia, Prague and 
also into Hungary, mixed up with the true religion of Christ. 

The King Ladislas, having attacked a large plundering horde of 
men, at the River Tenies about 1091, took all captive, and gave the 
prisoners the choice of embracing what he called christianit}- or 
death; they chose the former, and became a part of the kingdom. 
This king died 1095, and during his reign, pope Gregor}- VII had 
made Stephen of Hungary, and his son, saints ! ! And now another 



296 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

pope causes the costly and ridiculous form of canonization to be 
again performed in the behalf of this king, entering him on the cal- 
endar as a saint ! I 

These ceremonies are very profitable to the popes ; they bring in 
immense sums of money, besides impressing the superstitious with a 
certain degree of awe for the supposed power this so-called church 
has received. 

This, like all the rest of their power, is only a deception, but these 
were some of the means by which the kingdom of Hungary 
was partly brought into this church ; we say partly, for Hungary 
was never wholly won over to the papacy ; they had a preference 
for the Greek church. So at this early date religion was mixed up 
with the true gospel, and the idolatrous rites of the papacy. 

What an awful responsibilty the papacy assumed? Had they not 
interfered with them at this, and other times, this would no 
doubt have been one of the brightest spots on the earth, for they 
were never wholly deceived by the papacy, as their histor}' shows, 
and there being so manv of the princes willing to teach the people 
the true gospel. 

This country was not deceived like others in Europe, when the 
pope first invented the wars of the crusaders, the first of which was 
in 1096, and it was not until 1217 that Andrew, the king of Hun- 
gar}', took the lead, and during this interval history is full of de- 
signs of the papacy to bring this countr}- under their swa3\ With 
some the}' had succeeded too well, as their abject ignorance proves, 
but He, whose eye runneth all over the earth, had also raised a 
witness for himself in the person of Peter Waldus, who, driven 
from his native Fraace, settled in Bohemia, and trom which place 
he sent men to preach the gospel in Hungary ; and we find about 
1 176 many clinging to the true gospel of Christ there, some of which 
had taken refuge from the fury of Rome. These are the people we 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 297 

have given a small description of in our chapter, under the heading 
of the Waldenses. 

So about 1 176 a large number of refugees begun to flee here from 
the stake and other methods of destruction ; they came from all 
parts, France, Spain, Italy and other places and here they were pro- 
tected from that monster, Innocent III, who had taken the name of 
the Vicar of Christ, and who was making a hell of Europe, in pur- 
suing the saints of the most high God. 

This country was making stirring times for the pope, for thousands 
and thousands of Greeks publicly left the Roman church. 

The pope at this time made a demand for all the heretics to be 
destroyed or handed over to the tender, loving mercies of this most 
Holy church, but the king refused, and so the i^eligion of Jesus Christ 
spread over the land, but the Roman Catholic bishop, fearful for 
their cause, demanded in about 1228 of the pope, the newly invented 
inquisition to root out all this heres}-. Andrew II had left his son in 
charge of the kingdom when he went to fight in the holy land, and 
had also farmed out its revenues to the Jews and Mohammedans, 
who so oppressed the people that some in desparation went over to 
the papacy, and when the king returned he found the countr}- almost 
ruined, and it was not long before the pope laid the whole countr}' 
under the papal ban. 

The countr}' was also suffering from the effects of war, one of 
which was an invasion of Tartars, who, on forsaking Hungar}- in 
1242, left it in a deplorable condition. 

They returned to Transylvania in 1282, and agam in 1285, 
and spread death and poverty all over the land. 

Yet, during these wars, and also the internal persecutions, the 
number of the Waldenses increased, not only here, but in Bohemia, 
Austria and other places, where the}- amounted to nearly one hun- 
dred thousand. 



298 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

This gave the man of sin at Rome great trouble, and he and his 
begun to consider how to root all this out ; their first tactics were to 
issue all sorts of false rumors ; nothing was too bad, all sorts of crime 
was laid to their charge and as the Hungarians would not persecute 
the people, the pope begun his public burnings in Austria, the ad- 
joining country. 

The first led to the stake was in Vienna, where many became 
martyrs, but the Waldenses were protected in free Hungary, and as 
time progressed we find in the year 1400, John Huss preaching and 
protesting against a crusade pope John XXHI had ordered against 
Naples, with the usual promises of God's approval and pardon for 
all this sin, as well as earthly rewards. 

Jerome of Prague, and other christians, joined John Huss in the 
protest, also in proclaiming the pope to be anti-Christ, also exposing 
the unchristian act of setting men to murder and mutilate each other. 
The hatred of the Romanists caused John Huss and Jerome of 
Prague to be burned in 1415 and 1416. 

How the love of power corrupts men. Sigismund, son of the 
Emperor Charles IV ascended the throne of Hungary 1387, and 
was afterwards elected to the throne of Germany ; he betrayed John 
Huss into the hands of his enemies which brought on war with ihe 
Bohemians, whose leader, Ziska, defeated him in eleven battles. 
This gave great encouragement to the Waldenses who settled all 
over the different countries and built churches for their congregations 
to worship in ; they had also translated into their own language the 
Scriptures, and the people eagerly read them. This gave Rome 
great fear, but she had no help but to continue the wars. 

We here give the last scene of the wicked murder of John Huss,. 
for it is the worst kind of murder and mockery to bring a man to 
trial before those who are sure to convict him, and then done in a 
solemn manner, blaspheming God's name. The Emperor who be- 
trayed him, sitting as one of the number. We pass over the usual 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 299 

mockery of a sermon by a man, a bishop, not fit to preach one, the 
lying charges made against him, the degradation, the disrobing, the 
curses of the wicked priests, the cutting of his hair, the putting on a 
fool's cap, on which was placed pictures of devils, also the words 
"Arch Heretic." We copy from Rev. J. A. Wylie : 

"He stood with his feet on the fagots, which were mixed with 
straw that they might more readily ignite. Wood was piled all 
around him up to the chin. Before applying the torch, Louis oi 
Bavaria and the marshal of the Empire approached, and for the last 
time implored him to have a care for his life, and renounce his 
errors. 

'What errois,' asked Huss, 'shall I renounce! I know myself 
guilty of none, I call God to my witness that all that I have written 
and preached has been with the view of rescuing souls from sin and 
perdition, and therefore, most joyfully will I conhrm with my blood 
that truth which I have written and preached.' At the hearing of 
these words they departed from him, and John Huss had now done 
talking with men. 

The fire was applied, the flames blazed upward. 'John Huss,' says 
Fox, 'begun to sing with a loud voice,' 'Jesus, thou son of David 
have merc}' on me.' And when he begun to say the same the third 
time, the wind so blew the flame in his face that it choked him." 

Poggius, who was secretary to the council and Eneas Sylvius, 
who afterwards became pope, and whose narratives are not liable to 
the suspicion of being colored, bear even higher testimony to the 
heroic demeanor of both Huss and Jerome at their execution, "both," 
says the latter historian, "bore themselves with constant mind when 
their last hour approached. They prepared for the fire as if they 
were going to a marriage feast. They uttered no cry of pain. 
When the flames rose they begun to sing hymns, and scarce could 
the vehemency nf the fire stop their singing. 



300 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Huss had given up the ghost. When the flames had subsided, it 
was lound that only the lower parts of his body were consumed, and 
that the upper parts, held fast by the chain, hung suspended on the 
stake. The executioners kindled the fire anew, in order to consume 
what remained of the martyr. When the flames had a second time 
subsided, the heart was found still entire amid the ashes : a third 
time had the fire to be kindled. At last all was burned. The ashes 
were carefully collected, the very soil was dug up, and all was cart- 
en away and thrown into the Rhine, so anxious were his persecutors 
that not the slightest vestige of John Huss — not even a thread of his 
raiment, for that, too, was burned along with his body — should be 
left upon the earth. 

When the martyr bowed his head at the stake, it was the infallible 
council that was vanquished. It was with Huss that the victor}- re- 
mained, and what a victory 1 Heap together all the trophies of 
Alexander and of Cajsar ; what are they all when weighed in the 
balance against this one glorious achievement ? From the stake of 
Huss what blessings have flowed, and are still flowing to the world? 
From the moment he expired amid the flames his name became a 
power, which will continue to speed on tlie great cause of truth and 
light, till the last shackle shall be rent from the intellect, and the 
conscience emancipated from every usurpation shall be free to obey 
the authority of its rightful Lord." Rev. J. A. Wylie's His. ol Pro- 
testantism, vol. I , page 164-5. 

To show how well the Christians of that day understood the enemy 
that was persecuting them, we copy the following: 

" According to the account of Aneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope 
Sylvester H, their principal doctrines were as follows : 

The pope of Rome is nothing more than any other bishop. No 
difference of rank shall be made among the clergy, and not the or- 
dination, but the holy life, makes the priest. 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 30! 

The souls of the deceased go immediately either to eternal life or 
eternal miser}'. 

There is no purgatory. 

It is a device of priestly avarice, and a useless thing to pray for 
the dead. 

All pictures of the Divine Being, and ot the saints, shall be abol- 
ished. 

The consecrating of water is ridiculous. 
The clergy should be poor and content with their alms. 
Confirmation and Extreme Unction are no sacraments. 
The confessional is mere child's play. 
Baptism should be performed simply with water. 
The consecrating of burying grounds is^only for the sake of gain, 
and it is all one where the dead lie. 

The priests' dress, the church ornaments and vessels are of little 
importance. 

The priest can, at all times and places, prepare and administer the 
sacrament of the body of Christ and the use of the words consecra- 
tion is for that purpose sufficient. 

Prayer to the saints reigning in heaven with Christ is useless. 
On the Sabbath, one is bound only to refrain from daily labor. 
The adoration of the saints must be completely rejected. 
Feasts appointed by the church have no merit before God. 
The religion of the begging monks is an invention of Satan. 
Every man has a right to preach the gospel. 

These were the principal doctrines which Rome considered dan- 
gerous to her interests, and which, by the deluded civil power, she 
strove to extinguish m blood." Protestant Church of Hungary, pages 
22 and 23. 

'We have not space to follow the people in all their wars, difficulties 
and crusades, most of which were the deep designs of the papacy, 
also in the means used to corrupt by signs and lying wonders. The 



302 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

deep poverty, the daily doings at the monasteries went beyond any- 
thing we can conceive in this age of Protestant moraHtv. The super- 
stitious use made of the Virgin Marj-, whose images were put all 
over the land, many of \vhich could speak or prophesy, as the poor 
people were made to believe. The sums of money the priests took 
for useless ceremonies, for funerals, for indulgences sold. This sup- 
posed pardon of sin gave the people such license, that at last, many 
became more like beasts than men. 

Schools were not the order of the da}', excepting among the Wal- 
denses ; instead-of schools everything was done to keep the people 
in ignorance ; nothing to elevate the masses who were kept from all 
high offices and confidential places of trust ; the}' were given to those 
favoring this dreadfully corrupt church ; they went on from bad to 
worse until Pandemonium was let loose on earth, and where people 
had tried to be saints, many were dragged down to a state of the 
lowest iminorality. 

This was the work of the holy church, as they could not get the 
rulers to connive with them in wholesale butchery, as were the Wal- 
denses in other places, so the ingenuity of Satan was brought to 
bear in corrupting, which answered their purpose nearly as well as 
extermination. 

We shudder when we think of the responsibility these popes and 
so-called priests have taken upon themselves, and then to call this, 
even in this day — Christianity ! ! no wonder the world is beset \\ ith 
so many infidels. This is a faint description of the state of Hungary 
when the news of Luther and his doings reached the countrv, and 
now begins a new danger for the pope. The hearts of many of the 
Hungarians were thirsting for religion, and the deceptions and ex- 
actions forced on them by the papacy made them hail this news with 
joy and gladness, and now as the tracts, and hymns of Luther 
reached them, and were read and sung from hearts who had been 
touched by the Divine light, sermons were preached by men who 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 3O3 

spoke from the heart, the true worship ot God, and it so contrasted 
with the designing, teachings and the impure Hves of these so-called 
priests that it iired the people, and towns and villages, one after an- 
other, turned from idolatry' to the living God, until a great part of 
Hungary joined the reformation. 

Rome tried to crush this new light that had come as a refreshing 
shower to weary hearts, and issued an edict in 1523 for all Luther- 
ans to be punished by death as heretics, and foes of the most holj' 
Virgin Mary, and to have their propert}' confiscated. 

A royal commission was sent to Hermanstadt, to collect by force 
the writings of Luther, and burn them in the market place. Still 
this did not produce the effect desired, and a fresh edict was issued 
in 1524; the arch-bishop persuaded the king to call a Diet at 
Bakosh, and it was ordered that all Lutherans shall be rooted out of 
the land b}' being seized and burnt or forced to leave for other 
parts. 

And so it mattered not what the necessity of the country required. 
This sinful man at Rome, and his aiders and abettors, would kill oft' 
the flower of the country to satisfy' his wicked desires against 
christians. 

They, the papists had partly won over the present king, and had the 
nobles been of the same mind, a wholesale slaughter would have be- 
gun. Here is the danger of putting to much power in the hands 01 
one man. If the king sees fit, the feelings of the people are not at 
all listened to — What a great danger hung over the heads of the Pro- 
testants ; but help came from a quarter the least looked for. The 
country needed every man to stand up in its defense, for the Turk 
was coming with a large army. 

But what do priests care who comes, what mischief is done, or 
what danger the country is in? these are the times they are most 
busy, doing their own work, and strengthening themselves at the 
expense of the country. At such times the powers have so 



304 WHY HAVB PRIESTS AT ALL? 

much to do, besides watching these internal enemies, and instead of 
being something to rely upon, they are a source of weakness and 
danger in the hour of need. 

The}^ generally split up the country into factions, one threatening 
the other about their miserable dogmas, and at such times they refuse 
to let either party act unless you give them some advantage, so it 
always weakens a government ; it draws off the strength at the 
moment when all is needed for defense. This was the case in Hun- 
gar}', and put the king at the time we are writing about in a bad 
position- — meeting the enemy with a small army through these internal 
troubles, instead of having a solid army to meet such a powerful foe 
as was the Turk. 

So king Louis II took leave of his young wife and set out with a 
small army, to meet the great foes of Soliman which were more 
than twelve times his number, on the 23rd of July, 1526. 

On the 29th of August he put on his armor, but his friends ob- 
served that he was deadly pale. Arch-bishop Tomorv, and the 
more cautious officers, already saw the issue. 

Bishop Perenyi remarked, 'Here go twenty six thousand Hunga- 
rians under the guidance of the Franciscan Tomory, into the king- 
dom of heaven as martyrs of the faith; and it would be highly de- 
sirable if at least the chancellor, who is acquainted with the pope, 
should be spared to go to Rome and have them all made saints." 
His. of Protestant church of Hungary, page 49 and 50. 

"The worst fears were realized. Before evening the plain of JNIo- 
hacs was covered thick with the slain ; seven bishops, twenty-eight 
princes, five hundred nobles, and twenty thousand warriors la}* on 
the field. The king and the legate made an attempt to fly. King 
Louis was about to cross the marsh}' lake Csele, and thus escape, 
but his horse, having reached the further bank, fell backwards and 
crushed him in the mud. The Cardinal legate was overtaken in his 
flight and killed. Such was the battle of Mohacs." His. of Protest- 
ant church of Hungary, page 50. 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 305 

"After the death of Louis II, the people elected John Zapola for 
their king. 

A Diet was also held at Presburg, and the Arch-duke was pro- 
claimed king, and was invited to come and take possession of the 
crown of Hungary. 

Hungary had now two kings, which led to a civil war, and the 
persecutions of the church begun against those who had left her. 

This seemed to be just where the pope wanted to get the country, 
for between the two rival kings, each of which would need the power 
of the bishops, on their side, so the poor Waldenses will be slaugh- 
tered for the sake of either partv gaining over the strength of the 
papacy. 

The King Zapola begun by issuing a strong edict against the 
Lutherans, threatening them with confiscation of their goods if thev 
did not return to the tender and merciful Roman Catholic church. 
The priests, on the strength of this edict and the unsettled times, be- 
gun at once to burn and mutilate the christians ; they were afraid to 
hand them over to the king, he might relent and save them ; there 
was no such weakness on the part of the priests, so they made sure 
while they had their victims in their hands. 

King Ferdinand, on taking possession of Ofen, also issued an 
edict against the strange doctrine, as he calls it, and undertakes to 
bring forward cruel laws that had been made in fanatical Austria. 
So at one blow the Christians are liable to become houseless wan- 
derers, to lose all property, one-third of which is to be given to any 
miserable informer thatjays a complaint. This edict is to be read in 
all the Roman churches. This seems to the writer a bid on both 
sides for the power of the bishops. No country or government, to 
be honest, ought to let such a power come to a head — stop it in times 
of peace. 

So, if edicts amounted to anything, the priests had it all their own 
way, but unlike many countries, there was a great deal of virtue 



306 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

in the Hungarians, high and low, and tnese orders were not carried 
out, only on a small scale, for neither king dared to offend their 
great Protestant nobles. 

The Bible calls the Roman church the greatest abomination of the 
heathens. Is not this proved from the course of events that fol- 
lowed ? Without going into the dreadful wars that occurred, we 
will simply say the Turk claimed to rule in Hungary, as well as the 
two kings, and the Protestants found the Turks to be more lenient 
to them, and in fact, although the Turks despised the christians from 
not understanding them — still the idol worshipers were, to them, the 
most despised, and they showed great fairness in deciding religious 
quarrels. 

Hungary being so near to Germany, everything was soon known 
that was done in the latter place. The triumphs of Luther, the 
great protest, the defeat of the papists in every argument, and the 
great liberty claimed by the Lutherans, the writings of Luther, and 
other reformers were brought in, and eagerly read, the new testa- 
ment translated in their own language was circulated freely. Great 
preachers brought the word of life, and spoke with power, so that 
Protestantism spread all over the country, and a corresponding loss 
took place for the papacy. 

There was no other place in which so many at once declared for 
the reformation and left the papists ; its power was sinking. The 
bishops had in so many cases demanded the burning of people, but 
were refused by the kings and nobles, so the edicts had helped the 
cause instead of injuring. 

The progress went on nobly in Transylvania ; the diet of Eden- 
berg, in 1553, went a majority for the reformation, and a free city 
near by. called Guns, a fortress, went all tor the reformation, and 
in the next year, 1554, there was not in it a Roman priest ; they all 
left. 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 307 

And soon the whole of Transylvania was free from the papacy, 
and the church pi-operty went to the state, and in 1556 nothing but 
two monasteries remained. 

In very few places do we find such determination to treat papacy 
as she deserves, almost with contempt. 

Many priests having left the old idolatry, refused to be brought 
back, either by intimidation or reward, but declared their sentiments 
openly, and joined in the great protest. 

It became evident into the king and Archbishop, that Rome had 
lost all power; there were but three of the important families cling- 
ing to the papacy and the people were thirty to one in favor of the 
reformation. 

So what will Rome do now ? This part of the conntry is lost; 
she will surely give up the battle, at least for the present, she is 
hated so, and her favorite weapon, the inquisition, is of no use here; 
force is borne down by circumstances ; her priests have nearly all 
left, no use for them, no revenues, no tables any longer groaning 
with the luxuries of life, stolen from the poor and needy both in soul 
and body, b}- false representations — and priests must live well, you 
know, so of course it is all over with the papacy. Oh, is it ? Oh ! ! 
you forgot the latest invention of Satan, the Jesuits; they have al- 
ready been sent, and are as near as Vienna. 

How history repeats itself; can we not see in this, ourday, iSpr, a 
reflection of that time about 1560? We have seen the largest part of 
the people leave the church of Rome, but did they all do this from 
real motive of religion, were they all filled with the honest convic- 
tion that real religion brings ? We fear not. They had one ad- 
vantage over most of us living now, they knew what the church of 
Rome was, and we do not ; we see them at their best ; not so with 
them. To them the very name of popery was hateful, and that was 
the cause why numbers left, and some accepted the, to them, new reli- 
gion, as many people join churches to-day — without a change of 



308 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

heart, consequently religion is, and was, with many, little under- 
stood, and would not be likely to be very firm under adverse circum- 
stances, and numbers then, as now, gave way to criticisms, and to 
arguments on doctrinal points, causing a division among themselves. 
Some of the divisions were then the fruit of the old leaven, popery, 
clinging to the reformers, and it ma}' be, in some measure, as to- 
day, to work of the Jesuits, for we think nearl}- all the divisions in 
the Protestant churches to-day are brought about by them, or non- 
religionists, who den}^ the divinity of Christ. 

We meet in our daily walk, many people disputing the wor dof God, 
and we invariably find them to be persons not able to discuss the ques- 
tion, for no one can discuss this all important question from a worldly 
standpoint. Unbelievers of the Bible pretend to be able to define its 
principles ; they might as well try to fly in the air without wings, as 
to speak truly on some of its most important passages : 'tis true that 
"eyes have they, but they see not, ears have the}^ but they hear not, 
neither do they understand." 

These few remarks will be contradicted, but we cannot help it, we 
know them to be truth. 

And so we find, at that early date of the reformation, a division in 
the Protestant church. 

The leaders on both sides were honest in their convictions, but 
these divisions open a door for enemies to creep in, and this we 
think, is to-day, a weapon brought in by the Jesuits, to bring the 
word of God into disrepute — but we hope it will fail. And so these 
Jesuits crept into Hungary, for they always creep at first, but on 
their first visit, thev saw the time was not propitious, and so the}' left ; 
that is to say, those who came as priests, and were known as such, 
left, but lay Jesuits, who were unknown, remained no doubt, to do 
the work, and others followed. 

The time now came when the Protestants are loosing a friend, in 
the person of Ferdinand I, king of Hungary ; we say friend, tor so 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 3O9 

he was, but more from policy than, we think, the cause of religion ; 
he was ruled by circumstances, and was, from his Spanish connec- 
tions, favorable to the Roman hierarchy ; had been king of 
Hungary for thirt^'-eight years, he had also worn the Roman impe- 
rial crown, and that of Bohemia ; his death was felt by the christians ; 
they had lately lost many friends, one by one, by the hands of death. 
And now a new king comes upon the stage, and Maximilian is 
crovvned in his father's stead. 

This king was of opinion that Protestants and Roman Catholics 
could join hands ; he could not as yet have studied the impossible, 
and so another storm is brewing, but the Turk, without intending it, 
again becomes the friend of the Protestants, for they are marching in 
large numbers toward Hungar}-, and a Diet is called in 1566 to make 
preparation to meet the foe, but nothing is done to molest the christ- 
ians. 

This war with the Turks, ended in 1570 and it resulted in a truce, 
for eight years. 

Another Diet was called in 1572, and nothing was done against 
the reformers, but Rudolph, the son of Maximilian, was crowned 
king of Hungary. 

The Jesuits claim the late king as a Catholic, but some sa}- he 
was a Protestant. Be he which he may, he never interfered with 
them. The pope desired him to hunt them to death ; this must have 
been a terrible thorn in the pope's side, to see so close at hom^, the 
Gospel of Christ advancing, schools being set up, universities built 
for christian Theolpg}', and he not able to apply the torch or sword, 
but with the Emperor Rudolph, comes a great cloud over the Protest- 
ants in Hungary. 

It has been said, and no doubt with the truth, the training of good 
men is greatly due to the mother. If so the reverse will be the same, 
if the mother is so inclined. 



3IO WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The mother of Rudolph was a Spanish Lady, and in favor with 
the Jesuits ; he was born in that hot bed of superstition, Vienna. 
In 1552, and while as 3-et a boy, he was sent, so as to be under the 
training of that monster Philip II, King of Spain, and having Jesuit 
teachers and seeing the horrors, that were being enacted in Spain 
against the so-called heretics — he must have been a fit tool for the 
pope, when he came to act as king of Hungary. 

In 1577, Rudolph had appointed his brother Ernest, Deputy 
governor of Austria, who immediately, no doubt by the advice of the 
Jesuits, set about attempting a counter-reformation. It was the 
learned and zealous, but at the same time, headstrong and imprudent, 
evangelical preacher in Vienna, Joshua Opitz, who gave occasion to 
this step. 

Picturing in his sermon, the consequences of monastic life, he men- 
tioned that, in the time of pope Gregory, in a certain pool or lake, six 
thousand skulls of children had been found, which had all been 
thrown in by the women of the neighboring convent, and that the 
Bishop of Augsburg had written to pope Nicholas I on the subject. 
Eight day? after, the Jesuit Scherer preached against him, and soon 
raised such a storm, that by express command of the Emperor, the 
preachers, Opitz, Tattelbach and Hugo received orders on the 21st 
of June, 1578, on the same day, before sunset, to leave Vienna, and 
within fourteen days to be beyond the boundaries of the empire, 
never to return. Protestant church of Hungary, pages 118 and 119. 

The Roman Catholics tried many ways to entice the Protestants 
back to their superstition. George Draskowitch, Arch-bishop of 
Holotscha and imperial chancellor, invited the Protestant clergy to 
meet with them, at a synod of the clergy, but the Protestants refused 
to attend. Many other methods were tried, sometimes the Pen, then 
Scandal, then the imprisonment and exile of pastors ; constant sub- 
jects of irritation were brought to the king, complaints were laid 
daily, they tried to prevent preaching, no one but a Catholic ought 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 3II 

to administer baptism or marry or burv any one, not to visit the 
sick, in fact people must live without the word of God ; this was the 
beginning of sorrows. In Transylvania the Jesuits were banished from 
the kingdom ; in Hungary the Romanists tried to destroy the 
Protestants but this seemed to give them new life, and when pastors 
were banished from one place, they were received with open arms in 
others. 

And as if the Romanists were not enough to contend with, the 
Protestants were raising questions of theology among themselves, 
and were very bitter against each other ; this was a source of weak- 
ness the enemy soon took advanage of. 

There was a rumour of an understanding between the pope, 
Jesuits, and the court of Vienna, to root out and destroy the 
Protestants, and this appeared very probable, when ten thousand 
Roman troops came, as was said, to help the emperor against the 
Turks, under Aldobrand, duke of Belgioysa. 

The Imperial General, George Basta, took possession of the 
Transylvania, in the king's name, and at once begun to plunder, 
took the churches and schools of the Protestants, and begun to enlist 
the young men. 

These tricky generals knew the king better than the people did, 
and feared nothing from that quarter, and so went on cruelly im- 
prisoning the people, burning and stealing all that came in their 
way belonging to the Protestants. The soldiers were billited at 
Protestant houses, and at Eisengrub the Protestant church was blown 
up with gunpowder, and all those buried in the vaults beneath were 
destroyed, the bones of some were thrown into the river; this same 
thing was done in other cities, but in some such a determined 
front was made, that they escaped. 

The Jesuits conniving with the king at the diet of Presburg, en- 
abled him with impunity to break his oath to the constitution, and 
this left the Protestants at the mercy of the Roman clergy. Treachery 



312 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

of the worst kind begun to be in order ; they begun to expel the 
Protestant clergy and hand over the churches to the Romanists. 

It was the intention, after gaining a few more victories over some 
cities, to murder every adult in Hungary and Transylvania after re- 
fusing to become Roman Catholics ; this was only prevented by the 
brutal General Basta being completely defeated in a battle at Herr- 
grund, in 1596. After the battle, Banbiano is reported to have said 
that if thev had succeeeded in their plan they would have cut oft" with 
the sword, every grown person in Hungary and Transvlvania who 
refused to join the Roman Catholic church, and if we consider what 
had already taken place in St^-ria and Carinthia, as well as the St. 
Bartholomew day in France, this statement, as reported by Prince 
Kemery, does not appear at all improbable. Besides, what had the 
Basta not done in his rage ? 

He had invariably plundered the princes of the Reformed church ; 
he had burned Protestant clergy on a pile constructed of their own 
books; he even in the height of his barbarity flogged some of them 
alive I ! " Protestant Church of Hungary, page 135. 

"The Lutherans and the Unitarians escaped for a time, but they 
shortlv after met the same fate. 

From Kronstadt he demanded eight thousand ducats, and from 
Klansenburg twenty thousand. To please the Jesuits, he hanged 
some of the senators, and completeh' prohibited the exercise of the 
Protestant worship. 

As the blind slave of the Jesuits, he carried out all their plans. But 
in the 3'ear x6oi, the states took courage and proclaimed Demetris 
Napraghi the bishop Gyula, and head of the Jesuits, a traitor to his 
country, took away the bishopric, and banished him, so that till 17 16. 
or for a period of a hundred 3'ears, no Roman Catholic bishop dared 
reside in the land. 

In consequence of this fearful plundering of the land bv Basta, it 
was very natural that a terrible famine soon followed. 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 313 

In ten villages there was often scarcely a single cow to be found. 
The oxen had disappeared, and the men themselves drew the loaded 
wagons, as in the days of Ladislaus, while a kubt-l of wheat rose to 
twenty-five ducats. 

Near Enyed, a Wallachian killed a woman, boiled and devoured the 
flesh, and a Wallachian mother killed her six children in succession. 
It is true that both were executed, yet So terrible was the famine, 
that even human corpses were not safe before the gnawing hunger. 
To such a pitch had a cruel general and a fanatical priesthood brought 
Transylvania. Rudolph might consider this land as lost. Shortly 
after he lost also Hungary, with the exception of a few lowns in the 
borders, among which was Edenberg. Hither came Botskay, and 
setting fire to the suburbs, the inhabitants fled into the body of the 
town to protect themselves in the fortress. The crowd in the town, 
however, was now so great that the commander, Colonel Frant- 
mansdorf, threatened to throw the children into the Foss, if the 
women and children did not immediately leave the fortress." 
Protestant Church of Hungary, pages 135 and 136. 

The Protestants had up to this time patiently endured the injustice 
of this wicked so-called church, interfering in such a ruinous and 
brutal manner in their worshiping God ; they had endured the many 
robberies, murders, unjust slanders and evils of all kinds that such a 
corrupt society as the Jesuits could inflict upon them, until at last 
they threatened not only to rebel against the Jesuits, but to join with 
the Turks lor self-protection ; this threat and the firm stand they 
made was the means of the Archduke Matthew, the king's brother, 
being elected to the Kingdom of Hungary and Austria, on the 22d 
of October, 1608 ; thus were the Protestants freed for a time from the 
molestations of the Roman confederacy. Many important meetings 
were called on both sides, at one of which the Protestants gained 
what was known as the peace of Vienna, which gave them freedom 
from the Roman church : but what do the papists care for 



314 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

law, especially in a day when so many were held in bondage by this 
superstition. Attacks were made and answered. A book was pub- 
lished by Pazmany called "The Guide to Truth," in Presberg, in 
1613 ; this writer was a Jesuit defending the church of Rome, with 
the impudence of the Scarlot Harlot, calling Luther and Calvin ser- 
vants of Anti-Chtist, defending the so-called advantages of the celi- 
bacy of the priests, and many other points amusingly written, and 
which had a large circulation ; it went to the third edition. 

This book drew some of the weak ones back to the Roman church, 
others seeing its false principles, left the church of Rome, and be- 
came Protestants, one of which was George Christopher Thurgo, 
who was a relative of the Palantine, and who had some years before, 
under the influence of Pazmany, joined the papists and persecuted 
the Protestants. 

His return was a great advantage to the Protestants ; he remained 
faithful with them as long as he lived. 

These were stirring times ; the greater part of Europe had been 
raised to a pitch of excitement in the attempt to exterminate the 
Protestants, and in Hungary and Transylvania, they had done all 
the mischief they could. 

This part of the country was, to a certain extent, protected by 
constitutional laws, but they were frequently broken by the persu- 
ation of the fanatical Jesuits and priests, and numbers of persecuted 
Protestants came from Bohemia and Moravia, seeking protection 
from these fanatics. 

The cruelties of the Jesuits had been already terrible, all the 
Protestant clergy had been banished from Bohemia, and the 
churches handed over to their own creatures. In Moravia and 
Austria they had done the same. The evangelical preacher, David 
Standlin, had been banished by the Jesuit father Keller, out of his 
church in Hernals, near Vienna, simply because he had visited the 
servant of Captain Kobel, in Vienna, who was a Protestant, and had 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 315 

administered the Lord's supper to him. Twelve thousand exiles 
lived in England, Belgium, Hungary and Transylvania, and among 
these were one hundred and eighty-five magnates, and one hundred 
clergy, who sometimes v^^rote in the bitterest distress to evangelical 
towns and churches asking for aid." His. of Protestant church of 
Hungary, page 173. 

We have not space to follow the dreadful horrors that happened 
through the thirty years' war, but at its conclusion, although it 
brought peace for the Protestants of Germany and of Western 
Europe, it did not reach those that were unfortunate as to be in any 
way connected with fanatical Austria. 

The church of Hungary was at this time under this rule, and on 
the death of Ferdinand IH, 1656, he was svicceeded by his son 
Leopold I, a boy of seventeen, who had been brought up and edu- 
cated as a strict Jesuit ; he was carried away by the teachings ot 
these tools of the Vatican. 

He held the church of Rome in great reverance, and was tolerant 
to all their actions, but the Protestants he had been taught to look on 
as the enemies of God, and for them he had no thought but of aver- 
sion. So now the time had come when they would be tried to the 
uttermost. 

The Jesuits now became arrogant, and the nobles of their own 
party joining with them. They threw to the winds the laws of the 
land, and held the constitution of the country to be of no value, as 
the great complaints prove, which the Protestants brought forth 
against the Jesuits in a petition at the Diet in 1659, to ihe king, 
showing how they were robbed, plundered, forced by the brutal 
soldiers into the church of Rome, their churches violated and taken 
away, whole congregations surrounded while at worship, and forced 
at the point of the sword to join the chnrch of Rome, ministers and 
laymen sent to the galleys and chained to thieves and the worst of 
characters. 



3l6 WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Protestants going to neighboring churclies, were waylaid and 
robbed of all, even to their clothes, and sent home naked, murdered 
in various ways by private assassination, by the rope, the bullet, 
scaffold, thev turned one Protestant pastor and family out of his 
house in the dead of winter, and threw his furniture on the street : the 
tenants on the estate were ordered to leave unless they turned 
Romanists, and were not allowed to take but a_very small sum with 
them, and those that remained, the soldiers were billited on them, 
and ever}' species of annoyance and insult, as well as robbery, so as 
to wear them out, and to make them join their, to them, odious 
church. Protestant widows were not allowed to marr}-, the men 
could not hold any office, or work at any trade of any kind, and 
were threatened with heavy fines, if they attended a place of wor- 
ship. 

Such a petition as the above, one would think, would receive 
some help from the king ; but when did justice ever come from a 
king or any other power that was blinded by the bigotry of Rome? 

So, for an answer, they put off from time to time, and were finally 
told not to annoy his majest}'. 

This, then, was the help the Protestants received from this Jesuiti- 
cal king. 

These Roman Catholics are the greatest tyrants on earth, but 
when the system turns on themselves, they are the first to complam : 
'twas so in this case. 

The troops sent to Hungary, were intended to ruin the Protest- 
ants, but this could not be done, without the whole of the country 
feeling the burden ; it touched the papists aiike, and the Hungarian 
nobles, who were ready to persecute the Protestants, but when they 
saw the burden fall equally on themselves, they wished to have the 
cause removed, namely, the billiting of the soldiers on the country, 
who were dail}' committing acts of ruffianism, as well as pillaging 
the country ; so they petitioned the king to have them withdrawn, 



HUNGARY A.XD TRANSYLVANIA. 317 

but the petition was not only refused but fresh burdens added, fresh 
demands of money made for new buildings and for fresh troops. 

This gave these Roman Catholic nobles to see more clearly the 
burdens they had wished for others, now to be pressing on them- 
selves. This put them to great anger, and they called a secret 
meeting at Neusohl to decide what to do. 

Here they determined to throw off" their allegiance to the Emperor 
Leopold, to raise troops, and place themselves under the protection 
of the Turk. 

The leaders of this movement were all Roman Catholics and 
haters of the Protestants ; they had not the patience of the christians, 
who had been suffering all these years, a hundred fold more than 
they were now suffering, and had borne it meekly, but these go 
about at once for rebellion and bidding defiance to the authorities, 
and if the latter had not been so blinded by superstition, they would 
at once have been able to distinguish between the value of the two 
kinds of subjects ; and these rebels saw at once their folly in crippling 
the Protestants, who were now unable to rally for a common cause. 
Their best men had been driven away, murdered lying in despair in 
prisons, and could not help. 

And this rebellion had become known, through spies who, looking 
after their share of the confiscated estates of these nobles, did not at 
once try to quell it, but gave time for it to ripen to a head, and be- 
gun quietly assassinating the leaders, one by one, and seizing their 
papers as proofs of the conspiracy. The king's life was also in 
danger ; he was dying of a mysterious poison. The means were 
found out, but not the guilty ones ; many think it was a double plot 
of the Jesuits, to lay all the blame to the Protestants, and so enrage 
the king and the people more and more against them. 

And now about three hundred of the nobles were cast into prison, 
and after a time tried and executed, the bulk of which were Roman 
Catholics, and although these nobles had hated the Protestants, 



o 



1 8 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 



yet their love of country had put them unknowingly between the 
Jesuits and the destruction of the Protestants, but now being gone, it 
left the christians more at the mercy of their enemies, who were still 
fed by the idea that the rebellion was of their plotting, and a great 
many other plots were laid to their charge, which had no truth in 
them, and was only bred in the imagination of these scheming and 
wretched Jesuits. 

And now the Protestants begun to be hunted like wild beasts. 
We copy the following : 

"As the soldiery once came into the village of Babath the Pro- 
testant inhabitants had already escaped. There was now a chase 
made after them, and every one who could be found was made a 
Romanist. 

At St. Nicholas and Great Zinkendorft, the Protestant pastors 
were banished by the servant of Nadasely, and the household furni- 
ture broken in pieces. The Jesuits compelled the country people in 
crowds to join the popish communion. As the wife of Steven Kovacs 
positively refused, two oxen were taken from her husband as a 
punishment for her obstinacy, and they did not cease to annov till 
she also entered the Roman Catholic church. In the village of 
Szill, the same Count sent a servant, Peter Landor, with an armed 
force, to demand the keys of the church. Having, after sometime, 
obtained them, he had the bells rung to summon all into the church, 
as if for worship, and then, in spite of all the weeping and mourning, 
directed a Roman Catholic priest to administer the Lord's supper to 
all present." His. of Protestant church of Hungary, page 206. 

"In many places, the churches were taken away about the same 
time. In one place the soldiers broke into the church, with drawn 
swords, during the time of divine service ; they barricaded the doors 
till mass was celebrated, and thus was the congregation made Catho- 
lic. Mass had been read in their presence and therefore, the church 



HUNGARY AND TRANSYLVANIA. 319 

and the congregation belonged to the papists ; such was the reason- 
ing and it followed, as a matter of course, that the Protestant pastor 
was no more required. What matter did it make if he was sick? 
The best treatment was to throw him out on the streets." Piis. of 
Protestant church of Hungary, page 209. 

"In Sellye, a company of papists with flags and drums, appeared 
before the dwelling of George Rassotis, the pastor, dragged him 
with all he had, over the borders of the country-, destroyed the church 
which the Protestants had built for themselves, billeted a hundred 
soldiers on the evangelical inhabitants to prepare them for receiving 
the Romish ceremonies, and stole the three hundred dollars which 
the wife of Rakotzy, the elder, had given them, and which was at 
the time in the hands of the pastor. The church at Holitsh was, by 
order of the Bishop of Vesprin levelled to the very ground." His. 
of Protestant church of Hungary, page 210. 

"Similar scenes of cruelty occurred in Transylvania, and in that 
part of Hungary which was chiefly connected with the Reformed 
church, and which under Rakotzy had enjoyed such days of glorious 
peace. So soon as Rakotzy died of his wounds, in 1660, his widow, 
Sophie Bathory declared that she joined the Reformed church only 
in outward appearance, and had remained ever faithful to Rome. In 
spite of the father's care, she had trained her son Francis to be a 
papist, and now all the Protestant subjects placed at the mercy of 
the priests, she took away the churches of the Reformed congre- 
gation by force, drew the schools and their revenues to herself." 
His. of Protestant church of Hungary, page 211, 

We could go on relating the terrible woes of the Protestants. The 
injuries done them by this impostor of a church at Rome, under- 
taking to dictate in all their matters by and with the aid of Jesuits. 
We say as before, if such things were done by any power excepting 
they had hid themselves under the name of a Christian church, and 



320 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

first have wound the chains of superstition around the people, the 
world would rise and sweep them out of existence, as worse than 
pirates. 

God has said the man of sin should be revealed, and he is being 
revealed more and more every year ; we can now seethe impositions, 
especially those who are acquainted with revealed religion, and the 
da}' of doom is coming, and the crash will be easier for those nations 
who have curtailed His power, and have looked to God for help in 
time of need. 

We will say bef tre closing this chapter, which brings us to the 
years 1847-48, that the Hungarians struggled nobly to be free, and 
if ever a people deserve freedom, it is them. And this date brings 
to our notice such men as Count Battryani, Count Syecheny, and 
Louis Kossuth, together with the woman ftogger, Haynau, but this 
belongs to history, and those who desire it can easily find for them- 
selves. Our part has been to show the determination of this worse 
than apostacy to wear out the saints of the Most High God, and 
would have succeeded, but the gates of hell were not to prevail. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
THE JESUITS. 

" And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, 
thou enemy of all righteousness, willt thou not cease to pervert the 
right ways of the Lord ? " Acts XIII, lo. 

SPAIN was once the ruling power of the earth, and had she been 
wise, what a benefit and blessing she might have been to the 
w orld and posterity ; but she, through her rulers, chose the path 
of evil, and made alliance with the power of darkness at Rome. 

And instead of being a beacon light for all coming generations, 
she, after a reign of terror, particularly under Philp II, had to retire, 
and her glory was taken away, and given to another, and when her 
eyes are fully opened, she will see what a cursed legacy she has 
given the world, in the society known as the society of Jesus, a so- 
ciety she encouraged, but soon found it to be too diabolical even for 
France and Spain at that period. What an unenviable notoriety, 
not only in this society, it being headed and founded b}' a Spaniard, 
but having figured as the head of the inquisition. 

Even France sends forth her Calvin, Germany her Luther, Switz- 
erland her Zwingle, Scotland her Knox, England her Wycliffe, and 
a host of others, and other places their great lights, but Spain sends 
forth, What ? the most blighting societ}' the world has ever been 
cursed with. This is her reward for trymg to extinguish God's truth. 



322 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

The founder of this society was a Spaniard, Ignatius Loyola by 
name, a descendant of an old Spanish family. He was born 1491 in 
the castle of Loyola, in the province of Guipusco ; his early youth was 
passed at the court of Ferdinand V, and according to the custom of 
the nobility, he learned to drink and fight. He was a fierce charac- 
ter, and in the war had the misfortune to be struck with a stone, some 
say a bullet, which broke his leg : it is said a young and inexperienced 
surgeon left him in a deformed state, for which there was no remedy 
but to break the leg again, also to saw the bones asunder ; to this 
dreadful operation did Ignatius consent, and after nine months' suf- 
fering, a cure was said to be effected, but leaving him with one leg 
shorter than the other ; so he went rhrough a third treament of seven 
months, by being tied and splintered in a box to stretch out the short 
leg, but all of no use : he must be lame for lite. 

This man was contemporaneous with Luther ; we have before 
said the enemv oi souls fights with counterfeit weapons ; this man was 
as earnest to gain heaven as Luther, but his mind was filled with the 
frivolous writings of the da)'. Knight errantry was then in vogue, 
and owing to his false religious life, he consecrates himself to 
the Virgin Mary, and took her tor his lad}- and mistress : he had gone 
through more suffering than Luther, and like him had nearlv lost his 
life for the cause of religion, but their principles were difTerent. 
Luther sighed for the living God, and found him, with the help of the 
Bible. This man took the enemy of souls for his guide, disguised as 
the Virgin Mar}', and so both found their master, and each did the 
work required of them. One to build up, the other to pull down. 

Luther was actualh' working for Jesus. Ignatius for Satan; but 
being deceived by him, so that he took the name of Jesus only, and 
was so led away by his delusions that he and his then and after- 
wards believed in a lie, as the Apostle Paul foretold the}' would. 

According to the custom used at the reception of knights, he 
watched his arms before the altar of Mary, and prayed until the 



THE JESUITS. 323 

next day ; on the second day, he suspended his sword to a pillar of 
the chapel, and then passed all the night in prayers ; on the third 
day he put off his rich garments, clothed himself in rags, and 
took a vow to serve his lady during his life. 

Finall}^ the madness of Ignatius reached its height ; he sold his 
property and gave the proceeds to his convent, allowed his beard, 
hair and nails to grow, soiled his face with hog's dung, and left the 
abbey of Montserrat to beg. 

His exterior, which necessaril}' inspired disgust and alarm rather 
than compassion, caused him frequently to be refused alms, and 
subjected him to long abstinences. 

Hard as was this life, Ignatius found it too delicate and effeminate, 
and he retired to a den, in which he passed seven days and seven 
nights, without taking any nourishment. He was drawn from it by 
some mendicant monks, whom chance had led that way, and who, 
hearing the groanings of a man who appeared about to die, had 
drawn him from the cavern in which he had shut himself up, and 
after having given him some drops of wine, had borne him to the 
hospital of Nauzesa." L. M. de Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. 2, 
page 206. 

Ignatius remained eight days, without recognizing anyone, 
plunged in a profound letharg)- ; when he returned to life, he affimed 
that angels had carried him to heaven, that he had distinctly seen the 
Trinity, the Virgin, and especially Jesus Christ; that the Saviour had 
ordered him to found a mysterious society, which should labor in the 
propagation of His faith. When he was entirely cured, he went to 
study grammar and to prepare himself to execute his work." L. M. 
de Cormein's His. of Pope's, vol. 2, page 206. 

There is no society better acquainted than the Roman Catholics, 
with the fact that large and showy buildings, with gorgeous trap- 
pings and sensational services, catch the unthinking sooner than a 
plain church, with nothing but real worship to recommend it; it was 



324 ' WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

SO with the Jesuits ; after they had become estabHshed — rich and pos- 
sessed with large estabhshments — they found it easy to increase fast. 
Oh, what a goodly outside falsehood has ; but at the start, with the 
repulsive appearance of Ignatius, it was difficult to make proselytes. 
In fact he was thought to be insane, so much was his doctrine sus- 
pected, that he was taken before the inquisition, who discharged liim 
as a madman. 

It was some time before he gained any followers, but we find him 
in i55-|. with about six converts — and this was the commencement of 
the society of Jesus, who met, and made solemn vows, to offer iheir 
services to the pope, and to second him in everything he should 
undertake for the benefit of religion, as they understood it. 

De Cormein says, *' Whilst the reformation was making great 
strides, under the burning inspiration of Luther and Calvin, and was 
threatening to crush the papacy, a society of fanatical devotees were 
sharpening their daggers in the dark, and were preparing to exter- 
minate the Protestants. 

This society which was to Europe, the whole world, in its thousand 
cords, and which was to clasp thousands in its iron arms, and 
was to cause rivers of blood to flow in all parts of the world, before 
being itself spit upon, chased and driven from the earth, was the 
company of Jesus." L. M. de Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. 2, 
page 206. 

We feel unable to picture the workings of Satan on the mind of 
this unhappy and deluded man ; the world had never had so many 
real conversions to Christianity, as at that time ; it was robbing the 
enemy of souls — of his converts, thinning the ranks, and he must 
get up another counterfeit to counteract the Protestant movement, so 
he puts in the mind of Ignatius a scheme to produce a false con- 
version like all religions ; they accomplish their ends, or think thev 
do, by their own works ; thc}^ have no idea of the saving grace of 
God through Jesus Christ. 



THE JESUITS. 325 

Hear what the Word of God says to such men : 

" I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon 
them, because when I called, none did answer; when I spoke, they 
did not hear, but the}' did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in 
which I delighted not." Isaiah LXVI, 4. 

" And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they 
should believe a lie." II Thess., II, 11. 

" So Ignatius writes a book of rules for the conversion of men ; it 
is entitled ' Spiritual Exercises' — and he, like Mohammed, says he 
is under revelation. 

This book, it is said, was written by God, and given to Ignatius 
by the Virgin Mar}- ; in it the penitent, goes by confinement and 
other forms, for so many periods, into his cell, or other retired 
place — and there a deep conviction of sin is brought over him by 
contemplating pictures of hell, his mind is to dwell on the judgment 
of God against unrighteousness, and the weakness of his bod}, by 
fasts and penances, helps his imagination, which is kept on this sub- 
ject, until he supposes he t'eels the fires of hell and hears the wail- 
ings of the lost. This is the substitute of Satan for a real conviction ; 
he remains in this state for a week, and after this he goes through 
another week, but this is of repentance. Afterwards he imitates 
the revelation of Christ to the heart, by the birth of the infant Jesus, 
brought about in some way by the Virgin Mary, either by pictures, 
what he dwells upon, or his imagination fixed on his mind, and now 
he thinks he is converted, and begins to look no more at the horrors, 
but begins to sing, praise, and to speak joyously with great grati- 
tude ; before he comes out he has decided of course according to his 
book of rules to throw in his lot with the society of Jesus. 

To a real convert of Jesus Christ, such blasphemy almost curdles 
his blood, to rush like Simon Magnas into the sacred things of God, 
and to do it under the pressure of Satan, it shows them, the chris- 
tians, what power the enemy has, and how they are sheltered from 



326 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

it. Jesus said there is no temptation sliall come, more than you can 
bear, but this is to those who trust to Him through the Bible, and 
had he studied it instead of the books he did ; he would not have be- 
come such a victim as we find him. 

As God had sent the reformers into the world, at the most im- 
portant period, so did Satan send to the Vatican, Ignatius Lovola, at 
the time best suited for the pope, and on the day he entered the holy 
city with his disciples, Francis Xavier, Simon Rodriguez, Claude 
le Jay, Pasgnier Bronet, Nicliolas Bobadilla, Le Liebre, Lancy, and 
a few others; these were taken into a hall in the Vatican, with 
nothing in it but a seat, a table, a Bible, a crucifix, a tiara, and 
some daggers ; it is not known what took place at this meeting of 
the Jesuits with the pope, except they swore some horrid oaths for 
the success of poperj^, and pledged themselves to obey the pope in 
everything, and the pope, Paul III, pledged himself and his suc- 
cessors to support, with all his power, this new religious order. 
Ignatius was invested with the dignity of perpetual superior, and to 
reside at Rome. This was the beginning of the Jesuits, who took 
the name of the company of Jesus, and who have since then caused 
kings and popes to tremble on their thrones. 

This was but the beginning of this great army ; all its work was 
before it, but now it had the sanction of the pope, as well as his 
bull, to protect them in everything ; this army was doubly welcome 
to the pope, inasmuch as it was self-supporting the}' would not ask a 
penny. 

This society, like popery, makes a great flourish of names ; the 
sepulchre is painted to hide the bones ; from their titles, we might 
suppose, they were the best of men, instead of being transformed 
into demons. No one could enter this society without taking the 
vow of chastity, poverty and obedience, promises containing no vir- 
tue ; their chastity would resemble that of the Vatican, their povertv 



THE JESUITS. 327 

to aim at grasping the riches of the earth ; their obedience was more 
faithfully kept, but it made war against God and man. 

The great aim was to destroy all the finer principles of the man, 
such as pity, or love, and to encourage the darkest passions, and to 
make the man simply a machine to do without scruple or question, 
the will of others ; some of the requirements of the order for the 
admission and education of pupils were, he must be first, a Roman 
Catholic, and not suspected of what they call heresy ; we do not in 
the least suspect them ; their faith was to be governed bv the rules of 
the society. 

They were to drop all affection or seniiment, give all their property 
to the order, and renounce in its favor all that might fall to them, to 
close their hearts against all relatives, could not see one of them 
without permission, could not write or receive a letter without it first 
being opened by one of the superiors, and if they thought proper 
they might commit them to the flames, instead of handing them 
over, the words of Scripture are prostituted ; he who hates not his 
father or mother, or relatives, or even his own soul, cannot be my 
disciple. 

One part of the education was to do the vilest drudgery, and to 
fill the vilest offices in hospitals, or sick rooms, to go among all in- 
fectious diseases, to beg from door to door, and to have no place to 
go to, without receiving charity for a month or more at a time ; this 
process would harden the heart. Sickness was not an excuse from 
duty. This is only a tithe of the rules of this society : more will appear 
as we proceed, but a charter was now made and revised by the 
pope, who, while he was busy with these Jesuits, he was still at work 
in other places ; we copy : 

Whilst his holiness, was organizing the sacred soldiery, who were 
to carry the banner of pontifical despotism, into all the countries of 
the world, the inhabitants of Perouse had revolted, and driven away 
the Roman collectors as well as the legate. 



328 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Peter Louis Farnese, in liis capacity of gonfalonier of the church, 
went immediately against the rebel cit}^ at the head of an army of 
bandits, who ruined the provinces, burned the farm houses, mur- 
dered the cultivators, rooted up the fruit trees and maimed the 
beasts. 

After a siege of two months, the inhabitants, destitute of provi- 
sions and munitions, laid down their arms, and surrendered at dis- 
cretion to the bastard of the pope. 

This monster, instead of showing clemency to the conquered, ar- 
rested all the notables, whom he ordered to be beheaded, hung or 
burned ; he caused the women and girls to be violated by the sol- 
diers, and reserved the young boys for his own debaucheries. Then 
to prevent a return of another such revolution, he built a fortress, as 
if walls or towers, could guarantee tyrants from the hatred of the 
people, and as if a determined man, did not know how to defeat 
those, who reduced his countr3% to servitude." L. M. De Cormein's 
His. of popes, vol. II, page 209. 

As we said before, this society sprung up just in time, to aid the 
papac}', the reformation had so taker hold of Germany, that scarcely 
any of its former power or worship was left. Luther was thunder- 
ing against it with his preaching and writings, aided by a powerful 
spiritual and military party, Switzerland, under the powerful voice 
of Zwingle and his allies, were captivating nearly all the former 
strongholds of poperj-, Calvin was so centrally situated in Geneva, 
that he reached nearly all countries, even as far as Italy ; his voice 
was heard very near, and at the Vatican, and made the pope, tremble. 
England had thrown off her alliance and by so doing, exposed the 
weakness of the pretender. The reformed part of the world could 
see his power with heaven and hell was only on paper, his bles- 
sings or curses amounted to little or nothing, all his power vanished, 
with the superstition that had hung on the countries like a nightmare, 
other countries were also shakino- off this abomination. 



THE JESUITS. 329 

It is difficult to say how long the papacy would have lasted, had 
not Satan invented this society, which had now increased to large 
numbers, since it had been under the patronage of the pope, and 
when read}'^, he sent them everywhere. 

They soon became the confessors of kings, and people in authority, 
and so furnished the pope with a great many state secrets, as also 
family matters, and these Jesuits were the instruments, by which 
the pope kept up the fanatical fury of the Kings and Emperors of 
France and Spain, and caused the rivers of Protestant blnod to 
flow. 

As a superintendent of a railway knows the position of ever}- 
train on his road, however vast it may be, so does the general of this 
society, sitting at Rome, or elsewhere, know his people and the 
secrets of every nation on the face of the Globe. Each member 
that is enrolled, be they high or low, men or women, be their busi- 
ness that of a shoemaker, politician, kmg, emperor, newspaper 
man, dustman, historian, merchant, millionaire, assassin, murderer, 
dressmaker, milliner, dry goods merchants, store keeper ; let them be 
what they ma}', they and their characteristics, are reported to this 
general, at least monthly or quarterly, so he knows whom to select, 
for any purpose necessary, whatever position they are required to 
fill ; means are found to place them there, and dreadful to state, they 
are found preaching in pulpits, religions they do not believe in, but 
are placed there, in order to bring it into discredit. 

You will find these men and women in work shops, saloons, 
social gatherings, in meetings of every kind, boarding houses, the}' 
take upon themselves all trades, or professions, all ages, all grades 
of education, so they can approach any one and be anything to 
everybody, until time serves to do the work required of them ; we 
have thought we have met at least one in a class room, in a Metho- 
dist church. 



330 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

They may and do appear as the greatest friend of the family, es- 
pecially where there's money : 'tis by the means of these men and 
women, that poor girls are deluded into the nunneries, and are 
invited to their churches to see the flowers, or hear the music and 
singing and the pretended sanctity of these places ; this is how they 
proselyte and get new members, that and the poor little children ; 
they have no real religion to offer, so these means are adopted to 
spread idolatry ; we have seen the friend of the family on a few 
weeks visit, and belonging to this order, commence the work, by 
taking from the trunk a Catholic Bible, and placing it on the table. 
It gives an air of sincerity at least, and throws the family off their 
guard, and so the work goes on ; this is done as occasion requires, 
by both sexes ; they have taken all manners of disguises, the deteotive 
is not a greater expert in this department than they, and they are 
ready to go anywhere at any time, and for any business on which 
they are sent ; if they are detected and it suits their purpose they 
have said, "oh, we were so educated, but we have left it, we believe 
in it no longer," and if they think they will be better believed by add- 
ing some oaths, they have a stock at hand and of the choicest kind ; 
this is one of the lessons they are taught, to deny the order when 
cornered. 

Obedience is one of their greatest laws ; not to obey, or to express 
a wish contrary to order, is a deadly sin ; there are many grades they 
have to go through, all of which degrades them, all real religion if 
they ever had any, is taken away and they look at the general, as 
standing in the place of Jesus Christ, and place themselves in his 
hands, and also in that of the superiors, as tools without question ; it 
amounts to this — Go ! and he goeth I Come I and he cometh ! do this 
and he doeth it. 

We have gone on a little in advance of the time we were writing, 
so we return to about 1545, in the days of pope Paul III. 



THE JESUITS. 331 

'Twas in this man's time, that the Great Martin Luther died, at his 
home in Eisleben ; he left his wife, who had been a young nun, whom 
he married in 1525, and six children; by this time the workings of 
the Jesuits was being felt, and it called forth great accusations 
against them, and the Jesuits reported strange statements against 
Protestants and Martin Luther. Some that appear strange to us in 
these days, but then any statement was accepted by the poor deluded 
ones. Thev sent forth great libles against him, stating he had sold 
his soul to the devil. We copy a few of later inventions : 

The death bed of the founders of Protestantism, all apostates, and 
for the most apostate priests, bear us out in our assertions, and ter- 
ribly overwhelming evidence. 

Luther despaired of the salvation of his soul shortly before his 
death ; his concubine pointed to the brilliancy of the stars on the fir- 
mament. 

' See Martin, how beautiful that heaven is? 

' It does not shine in our behalf,' replied the master moodily. 

' Is it because we have broken our vows?' resumed Kate in dismav. 

' May be,' said Luther. 

' If so, let us go back? 

Too late ! the hearse is stuck in the mire ; and he would hear no 
more. 

At Eisleben, on the day previous to that on which he was stricken 
with apoplexy, he remarked to his friends,' I have almost lost sight 
of Christ, tossed as I am by these waves of despair, which overwhelm 
me, and after a while, I who have imparted salvation to so man}-, 
cannot save myself.' 

He died forlorn of God — blaspheming to the very end."- — ^J. S. Van 
Dyke, Popery, the foe of the church, page 206. 

We could copy any amount of these latter dav inventions such as 
the above, and those who know the glorious happy end of Luther 
will know what value to put on such statements. 



332 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL ^ 

His sacred hymns were called bacchanalian hymns, by this course 
condemning themselves ; all his good works were denounced b}- the 
Jesuits, and which in this day, no one but a blind papist believes. 

The pope was glad to hear of his death, and thought it the time to 
act, and use this newly organized society in Germany, and the above 
statements are a small part of their labor ; we copy : 

"His holiness contented himself with sending Jesuits into Germany, 
authorized to free the faithful from the observance of the precepts, 
contested by the Lutherans ; to allow them the use of food on fast 
days, the communion under both kinds, eyer3'thing in tine, except 
the marriage of the priests, and the lawful possession of property 
taken from rhe clergy. 

Notwithstanding these concessions, the papacy was so execrated 
in German provinces, that no Protestant would consent to range, 
himself beneath the banner of the Jesuits." L. M. De Cormein's 
His. of popes, vol. H, page 215. 

The Jesuits at first kept their vow with the pope, and did all ihey 
could to spread its dogmas, and sent reports from all parts, and by 
this means, enabled the pope to see that large numbers of vicars, 
curates, monks and theological students in the provinces of Italy, 
were in favor of the reformation. 

Pope Paul HI that had first accepted the Jesuits, was dead : some 
Roman Catholic historians speak highly of him ; to us he has gone 
into eternity, laden with crime, and his minion the Cardinal del 
Monte, was elected for his crimes, as Julius HI ; this new pope also 
gave latitude to the Jesuits, and upon receiving the above informa- 
tion, he sent an order to the bishop, to interdict the administration of 
the sacraments to those who did not believe in the orthodox faith of 
Rome. 

The Jesuits wei'e not favorably received in many places. The French 
banished them and drove them h-om the capitol, but they crept 
silently back again. In Spain they were only tolerated : Charles V 



THE JESUITS. 333 

used them only in his American territory. In England they were 
not accepted by the lords, the clergy, or the people. Queen Mary 
gave them encouragement. 

The Archbishop of Dublin thus spoke of them in a sermon : "A 
new congregation has arisen among us which st3'les itself the com- 
pany of Jesus, and proclaims itself the militia of the pope. These 
Satellites of the pontifical tyranny live like the Scribes and Pharisees 
and seek to replace truth by falsehood light by darkness. They 
will, no doubt, obtain their ends, my brethren, by reason of their 
astuteness, which clothes them with a multitude of torms to be com- 
batted ; with the pagans they adore idols, with the atheists they 
deny God, with the Israelites they profess Judaism, with the Pro- 
testants they call themselves reformers, and all this is done to dis- 
cover the plans, thoughts, inclinations of their enemies, to lead men 
into the way of perdition, to induce them to say, there is no other God 
but the pope ! They spread themselves over the whole earth, and 
obtain admittance to the councils of princes, the more surely to rule 
nations, to subjugate humanity, to bend it beneath the yoke of the 
bishops of Rome. But we hope that God will, one day, grow weary 
of Mich abominations, and will permit these miserable Jesuits to be 
pur>ued by those who liave lent them assistance, by the popes them- 
selves, for whom they have drank every shame ; we hope that these 
Satellites of Satan will become more miserable than the Jews, and 
that their name will be spit upon and reviled, we hope that they 
will be regarded as the most degraded, and the most abject of the 
human race. This very remarkable prediction, which was ac- 
complished in every particular, dates in the middle of the sixteenth 
century, some seven 3'ears after the foundation of the order." L. 
M. de Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. 3, page 226. 

The laws of the society rendered its members free irom all control 
but its own ; they were, by strict discipline, shorn of all love of famil}-, 
all kindred ties, love of country ; they obeyed no law of God or man. 



334 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

they have a shield to cover even-thing, they could commit any crime 
under the supposition, that the end justifies the means. 

Poper}' and this kindred society reverses God's plan. Vice is 
virtue, and virtue vice, and said to be for the glory of God. A man 
need not love God only once in his lifetime ; it is, they say, suffi- 
cient if he does it once belore he dies. They say ihe Bible does not 
teach men to love God so much as it says you are not to hate Him. 

We hate God when we commit crime and do not obey Him, but 
nothing is crime in their eyes ; it ma}' be wrong — but it may be 
right ! 

They cover their conscience under their method of probabil- 
ism, and there is nothing the mind can conceive that cannot be 
covered under this law. A murder may be wrong, and all men may 
say so, but according to them, it may be right, because some good 
may come out of it, so they walk through the world v\ith no thought 
or care, they may be laden with crime, and yet, if their general pi < i 
not find fault, they reason themselves, as no one else can, and they 
care for no one else. 

The}' have the faculty of dividing the soul from the body, under 
the plan of directing the intention — for instance, they say it is the 
soul that does the act; so if they are setting a house on fire, scuttling 
a ship, stabbing a man in the dark, or an}- other act, while the opera- 
tion is being performed, if the soul is thinking of something else — 
or thinking some good may come out of it — then it is the body only 
that acts, so the soul is free before God, 'twas the body that did it, 
that is not responsible, they say. 

They have also a doctrine of equivocation — so that while taking an 
oath, if they are asked — did you do so and so, they answer No ! but 
they say to themselves, not before I was born, or something like 
that. 

We could fill pages of these corrupiions, they have been published 
so many time, that the public ought to be getting familiar ; we say 



THE JESUITS. 335 

there is no crime this so-called church does not cover up in some 
subtle form ; all have an excuse, the merchant, the mechanic, the 
professional ; the servant girl is not forgotten, if she does not receive 
as much wages as she thinks she ought, she may steal and it is no 
sin ; stealing is allowed if for a good act, say to pay for mass to get ■ 
a soul out of purgator}-. 

The constitutions of this society had been kept seci^et for a long 
time, but in a law suit in France, against the society for money lost 
in their engaging in trade, they were compelled to bring the volume 
into court, they knew it would be looked on with disgust, so each 
member was ordered silent respecting it. 

All France was aroused to the most intense indignation, the par- 
liament issued their decree abolishing and banishing the society of 
Jesus, from the nation and in that national act assigned these rea- 
sons. The consequences of their doctrines destroy the law of nature, 
they break all the bonds of civil society by authorized theft, lying 
perjurj', the utmost licentiousness, murder, criminal passions, and all 
manner of sins. These doctrines, moreover, root out all sentiments 
of humanity ; they overthrow all governments, excite rebellion, and 
uproot the foundation and practice of religion and further, the)' sub- 
stitute all sorts of superstitions, irreligion, blasphem)- and idolatry. 
Pope or President, pages 170 and 171. 

The aiders and abettors of this deadly blight may, and do say this 
was in the i6th century ; but is not the same principle insisted on 
to-da}'? also the name of England and America are mentioned as 
the countries this society and the pope have their deadly eves on. 

The pope, in this year, 1890, calls upon all of the members of his 
church to become candidates for all offices, to fill the City Councils, 
or Boards of Aldermen, Senate or Congress, the object being to 
make this a Roman Catholic country, and also to receive money 
from each, forgetting then, the position, and when in office to assist 



336 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

in the making of laws most favorable to this so-called church, to 
put their deadly hands on our public schools, and to keep their 
children from going to the schools provided by the State ; the educa- 
tion given in these private schools is far below that of the State, but, 
• education these priests do not want, they desire to bring the minds 
of the children to a Jesuit level, and threaten to refuse the parents of 
these children the sacraments of the church, unless they consent to 
their demands, by sending the children to these private schools ; 
penances are also to be imposed on the defaulting parents. One 
would think we were back in the dark ages, to read such statements. 
As far as sacraments of the church goes, if the parents only knew 
it, they would be much better without them, and as to the penances, 
they do no harm, that is if you do not waste any time over them — 
but we proceed. 

Pope Clement, XIV, in the i8th century, pronounced this 
society of Jesuits, wicked and mischievous, dangerous to the peace 
of the world, and unworthy of longer toleration. 

So this pope knowing their revengeful spirit, took every precau- 
tion, to free himself from their vengence, but to no purpose ; the food 
in the kitchen was doubly watched, but the}' employed other means. 

A lady of the Sabine, entirelj' devoted to them, had a tree in her 
garden which bore the handsomest figs in Rome. The Reverend 
Fathers knowing that the pope loved this fruit very much, induced 
the lady to disguise herself as a peasant, and go and present these 
figs to Brother Francis. (This Brother Francis had to watch the 
food.) 

The devotee did so several times, gained the confidence of the 
Franciscan, and one day sliped into the basket a fig larger than the 
others, into which a subtle poison, called aguetta, was injected. 
Up to this time the holy father had enjoyed perfect health, he was 
well made, though of the ordinar^y height, his voice was sonorous 



THE JESUITS. 337 

and strong, he walked with the activity of a young man, and every- 
thing presaged a long old age to him. 

From that day his health failed in an extraordinary manner ; it 
was remarked with alarm that his voice was sensibly failing. To 
those first symptoms of his sickness was joined so violent an infla- 
mation of his throat, that he was obliged to keep his mouth constantly 
open ; vomiting then succeeded the inflamation, accompanied by 
pains in his bowels, finally the sickness increasing in intensity, he 
discovered that he was poisoned. He wished to make use of anti- 
dotes, but it was too late. For three months he endured this terrible 
agony, his courage never failed him : he said, 'Alas, I knew well 
that they would poison me, but I did not expect to die in so slow 
and so cruel a manner. ' He died the 22d of September, 1774. 
L. M. De Cormein's His. of popes, vol. H, pages 397 and 398. 

The influence on the world's condition, since the readmission of 
the Jesuits, in 1814, is seen and felt by those who have lived, say, 
during the last fifty years. In the wars ending with the battle of 
Waterloo, the papacy had received such a check, that it might never 
have lifted up its head again, without their silent workings among 
the nations ; the papacy has had to be propped up since, by French 
soldiers at Rome, and the nations that received the greatest losses 
under Napoleon I, were Roman Catholic countries ; they were partly 
punished for their own acts ; the benefits gained by the war, fell to 
the share of the Protestant countries, particularly to England and 
Prussia ; the change in the. conduct of the papists, ever}- year or so, 
is apparent to all, particularly to those whose experience enables 
them to see back for a number of years ; the}' have been under Jesuit 
teaching, partly quiet and retiring, now they are getting bold and 
imprudent, and speak of the success of their so-called church, as 
a fact almost realized, and are beginning to throw out dark hints, as 
to the means to be employed for that purpose. Many of the think- 
ing people wondered why, in this nineteenth century, such a meeting 



338 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

as the one had at Rome some few 3ears since, to vote the infalli- 
bility of the pope, was called. No one believed in it, either pope or 
priest, and yet they passed it after discussing it, or something else, 
to account for the time used. Can any one that knows anything 
about the slipper}- ways of the Jesuits or papists, be deceived as to 
the real meaning of the meeting, to waste all that time, to spend the 
thousands and ten thousands of dollars, to call all these priests from 
so many parts, to establish such nonsense? The writer has never 
thought anything else, but that infallibilit\' was the excuse, foolish as 
it was, to cover a deep Jesuitical scheme, to enslave the countries. 
This is what the meeting must have been called for, and since that 
time, armies of expelled Jesuits have flooded England and America, 
the fruits are beginning to ripen, some of them are already on the 
market, and the one most visible is the Jesuit schools in America ; in 
England their boldness and corruption of the state church, other 
fruits will show themselves as the time advances, another is in the 
hearts of the timid, a fear is produced, you cannot tell why, but it is 
there. You hear it expi'essed often, and it was fear that enslaved 
the nations in the eighth century and gave the pope power ; so his- 
tory is repeating itselt. And if as v\e read, that far-seeing martyr, 
President Lincoln, was almost afraid to bring the lactions together 
in collision, what must it be now? And what will it be in twentv 
years time, when the crop of the Jesuit schools are fully ripe ? We 
put a well known question to 3'ou. What are you going to do about 
it? What is to be the consequences ol^ these thousands of Jesuits, 
men and women, in man}' cases unknown, let loose among the 
people? The same society that thirty-seven states as well as the 
pope, suppressed, and found its adherents unbearable, unmanagable, 
impious, fanatical, revolutionary ; the very dregs of society in large 
cases, but infesting all classes from the head downwards, and have 
been driven out of all countries. Does any one suppose unless the 
church of Rome was playing a deep game, it would restore these 



THE JESUITS. 339 

people that they know so well, and that have threatened to engulf 
the papacy more than once, and are not the school boys fed by this 
Jesuit food already from the age often and upwards, rebels at heart? 
Their nationality is transferred to the church, and when sufficiently 
numerous to do its work, can be depended on to repeat the disgrace- 
ful riots such as President Lincoln ordered Bishop Hughes to stop 
during the late war, and for which he lost his valuable life. 

And just here it would be as well to say that it is thought some of 
the government men at Washington had no doubt the murder was 
concocted by the Jesuits, and that it was only out of state policy that 
they were not charged with the crime ; the house of Mrs. Surratt 
was a meeting place for these Jesuit priests, and that nearly all, if 
not all the witnesses, including Mr. and Mrs. Surratt, were Roman 
Catholics, and that John Surratt was sent after the murder by one 
priest to another in Montreal ; that after a few months he is taken to 
Quebec and put on board an ocean steamer, the Peruvian, introduced 
to the captain by the false name of McCarthy, and he kept him 
locked up in his stateroom. At"terwards taken into the service of 
the pope as one of his soldiers until discovered and brought back to 
the United States ; but then he was comforted by being told he 
should have some Roman Catholics on the jury and should be ac- 
quitted, and he was acquitted. 

Late priest Chiniquy says in his book "Fifty Years in the Church 
of Rome." "The very da}' of the murder, he said, he was in the 
Roman Catholic village of St. Joseph, Minnesota state, when, at 
about six o'clock in the afternoon, he was told by a Roman Catholic 
of the place, who was a purveyor of a great number of priests who 
lived in that town, where they have a monastry, that State Secretary 
Seward and President Lincoln had just been killed." 

"This was told me" he said, "in the presence of a most respect- 
able gentleman, called Bennett, who was not less puzzled than me. 
As there were no railroads nearer than fort}'^ miles, nor telegraph 



340 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

office nearer than eighty miles from that place, we could not see how 
such news was spread in that town. 

The next day the 15th of April, I was at St. Cloud, a town about 
twelve miles distant, where there are neither railroads nor telegraph. 
I said to several people, that I had been told in the priestly village 
of St. Joseph, by a Roman Catholic, that Abraham Lincoln and 
Secretary Seward had been assassinated. They answered me that 
the};- had heard nothing about it. But the next Sabbath the i6th of 
April, when going to the church of St. Cloud to preach, a friend 
gave me a copy of a telegram sent to him on Saturday, reporting 
that Abraham Lincoln and Secretary Seward had been assassinated 
the ver\' day before, which was Friday the 14th, at 10 P. M. But 
how could the Roman Catholic purveyor of the priests of St. Joseph 
have told me the same thing, before several witnesses just four hours 
before its occurrence? I spoke of that strange thing to man}- the 
same day, and the very next day I wrote to the St. Paul press, under 
the heading 'A Strange Coincidence.' Sometime later the editor 
of the St. Paul Pioneer, having denied what I had written on that 
subject, I addressed him the following note, which he had printed, 
and which I have kept. Here it is, you may keep it as an infallible 
proof of my veracity." — Fifty Years in Church of Rome, page 730. 
— Here follows the letter and several answers. 

So the murder of Lincoln was reported four hours before it was 
done, in a place that the news could not under ordinary circum- 
stances reach until the next day, there being no means to take it 
there j let the fact speak for itself, also remembering it was a Roman 
Catholic village, and a monastry belonging to it, and that these 
priests were in the habit of visiting at Mrs. Surratt's house. 

Is it necessary to have the horrid experiences of the past, in order 
to move us, or shall we take the time as it serves? 

Shakespeare says, "There is a tide in the affairs of men which 
taken at the flood leads on to fortune. Omitted all the voj^age of 



THE JESUITS. 341 

our life is bound in shallows and in miseries ; on such a full sea we 
are now afloat, and we must take the current as it serves, or loose 
our venture." 

Do we need any further evidence than this book furnishes (and it 
does not give a fiftieth part of the whole) that this institution of a 
so-called church is nothing but an imposition from its very start, and 
if it had come in any other form but under the disguise of religion, 
it would be treated as banditti and driven from the face of the 
earth. Can ministers of the gospel look quietly on from year to 
year without even a protest, and see the dear little ones brought by 
their deluded parents into this blasphemy? 

There are some papers always preparing the public for an excite- 
ment about war, about something that can be settled by arbitration. 
But there is no court of arbitration, or anything else humane, but 
force, can settle this greatest of all evils. Can .you not trace the 
Jesuit in these rumors? And if a war could be brought about 
between the two greatest English-spoken countries, what ad- 
vantage it would give them. A splendid opportunity for a few croc- 
odile tears, with the hope of stealing away the carcass. Talk of 
war — with such an enemy in our midst. No ! we dare not, either 
country, fire a shot with anyone until we are rid of our most deadly 
foe. 

Did it ever occur to you that whenever war is talked about here, 
it is always England, ^a Protestant nation? These rumor starters 
never want a war with France, or any Catholic country. Can you 
not trace the origin in these rumors? Why, England has done more 
to keep on good terms with America than you can trace in the whole 
of her history, and yet, if war is talked about, England is the chosen 
foe ; this must be the the source of Jesuitical hatred. 

All that is now wanted, is a President favorable or careless of the 
Jesuits. They have got a good footing in Washington. 



342 WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Do we remember there is a Jesuit college there, and that Ameri- 
cans send their children to it to be educated, not perhaps suspecting 
the danger of such a system? 

The college had a centennial a few years since and was attended 
by some of our citizens, encouraging this greatest of all human 
foes. 

Many names of men known then under that party, were given. 
Some gold medals were distributed. One was given to President 
Grover Cleveland for the government of the United States, and he 
actually accepted it. Did the government receive it? We hope not. 

We remember Cleveland before he became President, responding 
to a toast given b}- a Catholic bishop, in Rochester, N. Y. The 
toast was, "The Rochester Clergy". He must have meant^his own 
church with himself at the head. The party was selected, as usual 
for this purpose, and of course it went off" all right. 

The real Rochester clergy, we suppose, looked on with contempt, 
as they did not answer the insult. We hope our clerg}' have more 
important work on hand than toasting each other in wine. 

Cardinal Gibbons, and our late President, were the leading men, and 
the cardinal makes a speech, and when speaking of Washington, ^^ou 
would think his heart was full of the desire to continue and perpetuate 
the republic, of which Washington was head. Does their history 
prove their love to such governments? We give a specimen of the 
blasphemous manner in which God's name was taken in vain on this 
occasion. 

"Washington, February 22d, 1889. 

The celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of Georgetown 
University, continued to-day. 

The conference of degrees was a feature of the day. The diplo- 
mas were presented by the President. 

Cardinal Gibbons then delivered his address. He said, 'It is in 
accordance with the economy of divine providence that whenever 



THE JESUITS. 343 

God has any great work to accomplish in the civil, social or moral 
order he emp]o3-s the agency of suitable men, to effect its execu- 
tion.' 

And then he goes on to eulogize some John Carroll, in God's 
name, who lived a hundred years ago, and who started this Univer- 
sity, and makes a quotation of that sacred passage. 

' There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ' And 
remember, John was sent to herald the religion they have been al- 
ways fighting against, and that a hundred years since, God was 
sweeping this continent clean of such toes. Truly, the name harlot 
which God gave them, is the proper one. 

We give now a few e'xtracts from pope or president. 'The Romish 
hierarchy declares to the United States, the following determination, 
through its chief organ in our countr}'. The church is a kingdom 
and a power, and as such must have a supreme chief, (a pope) and 
this authority is to be exercised over states as well as individuals. 

If the pope directed the Roman Catholics of this country to over- 
throw the constitution (and put down the American flag), sell the 
nationality of the country and annex it as a dependent province to 
Napoleon the Little, (a papist sovereign) they would be bound to 
obe}^ It is the intention of the pope to possess this country." — 
Page 173. 

We see now that the Jesuits have neither heart, soul or conscience. 
They are sent to our country to do any deed they are ordered, no 
matter how blood}-. They come under sealed orders, and ask for 
the education of the children according to their own maxim. "Give 
us the education of the children of this day, and the next generation 
will be ours. Ours in maxims, in morals and i-eligion." TheA' are 
now doing with education in the United States exactly what they 
have done in every European kingdom. They affect all the learn- 
ing of the world ; they establish their academies and their profession- 
al honors to win the young into their embrace. Jesuit nuns are pur- 
suing the same course in concert with the aspiring and licentious 



344 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

priests, in deluding young girls. These sisters of charity, sisters of 
the sacred heart, etc., invade the sanctity of families, and ensnare the 
souls of the innocent and confiding. Their zeal is more fervent for 
the cause of the pope in the United States, than in an}' other country 
in the world. Pages 194 and 195. 

We come to the mode by which the society admits to profession. 
At the time appointed, the general or some one empowered b}' him, 
offers the sacrifice of mass in the church, in the presence of the in- 
mates of the house and others, when the person receives the Eucha- 
rist and with a loud voice pronounces his written vow in these words : 
"I. N. make profession and promise before Almighty God, before 
his Virgin Mother, and before all the heavenly host, and before all 
bystanders and you reverend father, general o^ the society holding 
the place of God, and your successors, or you, reverend father vice 
general of the society of Jesus, and of his successors, holding the 
place of God, perpetual poverty, chastity and obedience, and therein, 
peculiar care in the education of boys, according to the form of 
living contained in the aposiolic letters of the society of Jesus, and in 
its constitutions. Moreover, I promise special obedience to the pope 
in missions, as is contained in the same apostolic letters and consti- 
tutions." 

Then the name of the countr)-, the day, the month, year is added. 
Page 182. 

We would ask where do the apostolic letters come from? Seeing 
the apostles knew nothing about such a society, and that it was 
formed about fourteen hundred years after their death, we suppose 
they get them from the same place as the pope gets his. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE INQUISITION. 

"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath has come, and the time of the 
dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward 
unto thy servants, the i-rophets, and to the saints, and them that fear 
thy name, small and great ; and shouldest destroy them, which destroy 
the earth."— Revelations XIX, i8. 

WE believe the above passage includes the Inquisitions as one 
of the arms used in stirring up the nations to anger, against 
God's servant, the prophets and saints. 

The dead, we believe, are the martyrs to the fury of these danger- 
ous fanatics, and the judging is done to their, persecutors before 
God. The prophets are the faithful teachers in the real church. 
The saints, the christians 

And them that fear thy name, are the sincere followers. 

And those that destroy the earth, are the authors, fomenters and 
encouragers of bloody wars and persecutions. 

These people have been punished in various ways, all through 
their history, but the time is coming, we believe, when God will de- 
stroy those who are living, that do these things. 

The tares were permitted to grow with the wheat until the end ; 
that end is near, and if we show too close an affinity with these, by 
permission or indifference, it may happen that we may be gathered 



34^ WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

with the tares ; and if we allow them to get too strong, wars and rev- 
olutions, according to the history of the past, will follow, and we 
shall be the sufferers. 

Remember the vei'se in Revelations IV says, " Come out from her 
my people, that ye be not partakei^s of her sms, and that ye receive 
not of her plagues.'' This threat applies to all that have her mark ; 
and would it not be very easy to get the mark, by encouraging or 
assisting with money or in any other way? This is worth thinking of. 

Also remember the devil is wroth, knowing his time is short, and 
will do as much mischief as he can ; his power can only be stayed 
by our clinging to God, and by showing an abhorrence to this open 
idolatry, and preventing its spreading by sound legislation and other 
means at our disposal. 

A short time may mean twenty, fifty, one hundred years, but 
much harm that may be avoided can be done to the nation in that 
time. 

This matter concerns all, for the happiness or the misery of the 
country and the world depend on how we follow the instructions 
given in God's word, and also how we understand the prophesies of 
the Bible. So have a little patience, and read the following from 
Revelations XII, 17 to 21 inclusive. 

" And I saw an angel standing in the sun : and he cried with a 
loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of Heaven, 
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great 
God. 

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and 
the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit 
on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small 
and great. 

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, 
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and 
against his army. 



THE INQUISITION. 347 

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophets that 
wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had 
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. 
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon 
the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth, and all the fowls 
were filled with their flesh." 

The writer does not wish to be an alarmist, but remember, the 
above is the word of God, and must be fulfilled within the above 
named time ! All of the prophesies of the Bible have been fulfilled 
as their time has arrived, and must this be an exception? 

No living man knows how all this is to be done or exactly what 
year, but come it will, as sure as the sun will rise each day, as long 
as the earth lasts. 

It indicates great and terriable wars and the taking of the beast 
(the papacy j and the false prophet ^Mohammedanism) and their dis- 
truction and punishment, and it also indicates a vast slaughter, as 
the gathering together of the birds of prey for their great supper 
implies. 

The location of these wars is not given, but no doubt it will fall 
heavily on those nations and the people who have on them the 
mark of the beast, and of the false prophet. 

There are a great many reasoners that say wars are not consis- 
tant with a kind and loving God, but these are generally those who 
rest on morality for the future, or deny the word of God, or give him 
any right to punish his people for their sins ; some of these go so 
far as to say they have no responsibility, and their eyes being closed, 
cannot see the deformity of their own hearts ; but does not secular 
and biblical history show there are some people that nothing but the 
sword will open their eyes and bring them into a state ot penitence? 
What could convince such a people as the Jesuits, the founders of 



348 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

the Inquisition, or the pagans generally, that they are sinners in the 
sight of God? Nothing except they tirst see the rod, and some we 
fear are past even that. 

Now we say to those who find fault with God's government of the 
earth, that He has been very lenient and patient, but advantage has 
been taken of it, and they have committed such wickedness as this 
book speaks of. 

And all He as hto do is to withold His constraining power, and 
the devil's agents will bring on war and misery without any help 
from any other source. - 

Also remember, this is a revelation of not what shall be done, so 
much as it tells of what will be done, as the fruits of the evil of men's 
wicked passions. 

And it behoves us to do all we can to prevent this great and ter- 
rible war reaching our shores, by not giving our countenance to these 
promoters of wars; they are here already in numbers, and are in- 
creasing, and in a few years a fresh crop will be raised in these 
seperate schools, and the larger the number the more difficult to 
keep in order; but we will soon show a few of the acts of these in- 
quisitors. 

As we search history at the commencement of the inquisition, we 
naturally ask the question : Since this institution was established, as 
a means of punishment, what was the character of the parties on 
both sides ? They ought to be very wicked and obdurate people, 
on which the thunders of the inquisition must fall. Let their history 
speak for them. 

On the other hand, the parties establishing it must, or ought to be, 
very good — haters of all wrong. Vice in all forms must be detestable 
to them. 

And as the chief among the founders was at the head of a religious 
order said to be appointed by God himself, everv'thing just and 
pious must be his standard, and all parties around Him must be gov- 



THE INQUISITION. 349 

erned by the same methods, so that the community of which we 
write ought to be living in a state of righteousness, and peace and 
plenty ought to be the lot of all. 

Well, was it so ? let an historian of the thirteenth centur\-, who 
was a monk, tell the story, and in his story we shall find the same 
belief in the apostolic descent of this so-called church, that has al- 
ways clung to its members, and which for many years the reformers 
could not shake off. 

A monk of St. Albans named Matthew Paris, who wrote the co- 
temporaneous history of the thirteenth century, thus speaks of the 
church : 

" The little faith which still existed under the last popes, and which 
was but a spark of the divine fire, was extinguished during this cen- 
tury. All belief is annihilated. Simony is no longer a crime, usury 
is no longer disgraceful, and greedy priests can devour, without 
sin, the substance of the people and the lords. Evangelical charity 
has now taken its flight towards the heavens ; ecclesiastical liberty 
has disappeared, religion is dead, and the holy city has become an 
infamous prostitute, whose shamelessness surpasses that of Sodom 
and Gomoriah. 

Every country is abandoned to the rapacity of monks in rags, 
ignorant and unlettered, who fall upon the provinces armed with 
Roman bulls, and with effrontery adjudge to themselves all the rev- 
enues granted by our ancestors for the subsistence of the poor, and 
the exercise of hospitality. 

Those who resist this dilapidation of the public mone}-, or who re- 
fuse a part of their demand to the envoys of the pope, are imme- 
diately stricken with the thunders of anathema. 

Thus the pontiff's not only exercise an odious tyranny, which is 
still the more insupportable, as their agents, like true harpies armed 
with iron talons, not only snatch even the last rags which cover the 



35° WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

faithful to maintain the luxury of the court of Rome, but even over- 
throw the traditions of the first ages of the church, and drive away 
from the domains of St. Peter the citizens who divested them, to re- 
place them with the wretches called Roman farmers, who leave the 
work of the fields to pillage the inhabitants of the provinces, and 
who, in hopes of meeting the good graces of the holv father, send 
to Rome the spoils of the unfortunate. 

Thus do we deplore such scandals, and say, in the grief of our 
soul, that we would rather die than assist at this sight of horror and 
abomination." L. M. de Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. i, page 

457-8. 

This is the language of a monk of ihe thirteenth century ; perhaps 
this man would think nothing of spoiling the propert}- or life of a 
so-called heretic, or his family ; the above was done to the lambs of 
the flock, and they, in turn, would think it a religious duty to rob a 
Protestant, and so it shows us the state of the times, or as is some- 
times said, Peter robbing Paul, and we think we see a rival spirit, 
in this monk's complaint, rather than a desire for reform ; and be- 
tween the two orders of monks the people must have been fleeced 
unmercifully, and with the consent of the reigning pope. How 
would you like Roman Catholics, after living in and under Protest- 
ant laws, to go back to the confusion of that day, brought about bv 
this institution you think is the true church ? 

Innocent HI, in 12 15, gave orders to St. Dominic, also a commis- 
sion, to jvidge and deliver to the secular power for punishment 
apostate and obstinate heretics, and this was the commencement of 
the inquisition. It was established to slaughter the Albigeiies and 
Waldenses. An account of a part of the injustice and diabolical 
wickedness done to these people will be found in onother chapter. 

And also to burn Arnold of Brescia, and to massacre the people 
and the city ; this was some of its initial work. St. Dominic and 
Simon de Montford led their armies against the Waldenses and 



THE INQUISITION. 35 I 

Albigenes, and when defeated, delivered those that the}- did not 
massacre to the secular judge to be put to death. 

The inquisition was not in so perfect a stale for destruction until 
after the death of St. Dominic and the above pope ; then the}- estab- 
lished in every city, a council of inquisitors, consisting of one priest 
and three la3'men, and their business was to search for heretics every- 
where, in cities, houses, barns, cellars, woods, caves or an}' place 
where they were likeh- to be found, and when found a short mock 
trial and the stake ; this was being literally hunted to death, the 
houses they lived in were either razed to the ground or confiscated, 
or both, for according to this Pharasaical spirit, heretics poisoned 
the land on which they stood, so it wanted purifying. A landlord 
was held accountable for the religion of his tenant, and confiscated 
his property, if rented to such dangerous folks. 

Everyone was obliged to search for heretics, and when found, 
either to deliver them to these holy men, or to enter a charge against 
them, which really meant a conviction, a charge or conviction being 
synonymous. 

No one could follow a trade or profession without being a Roman 
Catholic. No one could have a copy of the old or new testament in 
their possession without a license from a priest ; all the books they 
might have, taught them nothing but the idolatry of popery, the 
Virgin Mary, saints, or some such useless books ; the real ob- 
ject of this was to keep the people from reading either the historical 
or Biblical history of the church ; that once read, and good-bye to 
popery. 

And as time went on the inquisition became so strict that two 
Dominicans were appointed in every city, with assistants, to carry 
out the business of this dreadful tribunal — this terror of the world, 
that swallowed up so many millions in its treacherous and leperous 
grasp ; instructions were given to these Dominicans as to what 



352 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

heresy consisted of, and we find it was pointed against those who 
believed in the doctrines of Luther and Calvin ; a good proof who 
the martyrs were. 

With what subtle food the Roman Catholics feed their people of 
to-day ; they never tell them anything about this horrid work, on the 
contrary ; as they must not read for themselves ; once in a while they 
get a sermon mentioning as far off the noble army of martyrs — as if 
they were the innocent victims. Their audacity certainly astonishes 
us. 

The writer has spoken to many papists on this subject, and they 
look at you as if you were telling some falsehood ; these poor crea- 
tures know nothing about the history of their own church ; a poor 
business, afraid to speak of its own dreadful acts, and for shame, or 
some other reason, they are obliged to hide their own history. 

We hope the readers of this book will stop and think what the 
consequences would be if popery is allowed to get a firmer hold on 
the country. Remember, this power 3'ou are now nursing will turn 
and bitterly sting you, and unto death. And also think, you ! yes, 
you ! that are perhaps giving your money and S3'mpathy to build 
them up are, in their eyes, the heretics they so bitterly denounce. 

Remember, when popery was in the full blaze of power, such as 
vou were not allowed, no, not even a place to rest your head. How 
would you like, you, who from prudent motives have laid up for 
yourselves and family or descendants, twent}-, fifty or one hundred 
thousand dollars, more or less, to have their unclean hands put up- 
on this property, simply because youare too conscientious to believe 
in their unholy dogmas. At the time I write, many loathed the 
name of popery as they do to-day, and yet, unless they became 
hypocrites, and pretended to be converts, if nothing more, there was 
rarely any medium but the stake ; once in a while a loathsome dun- 
geon for months or years. This is the work of the inquisition, 



THE INQUISITION. 353 

which has not been abolished, as many think, but is in force to-da3^, 
and we will give you some examples before this chapter is closed. 

Is it a wonder the world is so much behind, as far as the numbers 
of christians are concerned, when we take into consideration the 
methods adopted to make it so ? The heathen nations have used 
force to make converts, particularly the two greatest, popery and 
Mohammedanism ; the one cut ofl' the head, the other burned to 
death, and when the latter worked in private, tortures were added 
that nothing but fiends could invent or bear to look at. Also re- 
member, the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar amongst others. 

To popery, persecution is a great part of their religion ; take that 
away, and the abominations of mass and the confessional, and what 
is there left ? 

If there was any good in their religion, when they find a non- 
believer, why not persuade by sound argument and show them 
where they are in fault, prove, as the Protestant does by divine 
argument, their reasons ; they do not do that, they have no argu- 
ment but the stake ; it is either surrender or death, and it was the 
greatest part of a priest's education to torture and burn Protestants. 
Some of the kings, as we have shown, were also taught it was their 
chief business to hunt the best of their subjects. 

It must have been a delightful time to live in those days, to sup- 
port such rulers, and to know nothing was safe in your keeping, if 
only the evil eye of these inquisitors were fixed on it. You may 
have had a beautiful, loving daughter, and one of these fiendish 
persecutors sees her; she is taken away in the name of the holy in- 
quisition, and that is the last you see of her ; you may guess her fate, 
but there it ends for you. Poor girl, * * * * when she is done 
with, she is sacrificed. Some one ma}^ find her bones, but not re- 
cognize them. Your wife or sister may be taken for the same in- 
famy ; nothing was safe. 



354 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

People were snatched up for the slightest suspicion : not to bow to 
these priests, or to the wafer God, or to express your disapproba- 
tion of them, even by a look, was enough. 

In Spain alone, thei"e were nearly twenty thousand of these 
wretches employed to go and insinuate themselves into all societies, 
and to speak against the pope or the inquisition, taking people off 
their guard, and then to inform against them to the holy inquisition 
so-called. 

These tools were so drilled (and were of the Jesuit oider) by acts 
of cruelty, that they could stand and almost help drag their own 
mother to the rack, and yet the descendants of this people to-da}', 
will talk to 3-ou about the liberty and holiness of Mother church. O, 
blindness and bigotry ; and this is called religion. Well, keep me 
from it. Thousands were dragged into this horrid place for not be- 
lieving in transubstantiation ; this dogma was the invention of a 
monk named Paschasius Radbertus in the tenth centur}', at an age 
of such dark superstition. Rome had done her work well, and any 
absurdit}', however great, would be believed. 

If any one was to bring forward to-day, for the first time, such an 
exposition of Scripture it would be scouted by all. 

But the pope and priests saw what a mysterious power it would 
give them, as well as bring in vast sums of monev, for this is one of 
the great revenues of this church. 

So they clung to it, and did not scruple to murder anj^ one that 
could not so conform or shut their eyes to all common sense, and this 
so-called church will cling to it as long as they can persuade an}-^ 
one to believe in it. 

The method of separating the words "this is my body," from the 
rest of the chapter, enables one to put any construction on it they 
please. It is something like the keys ; "and on this rock will I build 
my church ;" these words used alone can be made to suit an}' pur- 



THE INQUISITION. 355 

pose, but in connection with the subject of the chapter, the Roman 
Catholic meaning falls to the ground. 

Transubstantiation was denied by man}^ monks and priests, as 
well as councils, so that it did not become a dogma of the church 
without a struggle. 

In the eleventh century, in the reign of Leo IX, about 1050, one 
Berenger, a bishop of Tours, gave lectures against this wicked dog- 
ma, and many approved of his opinions, and spoke in the same di- 
rection, but a monk named Lanfranc, jealous of Berenger in other 
matters, took the cowardly way of bringing an accusation against 
him ; after he had in vain tried to combat him in argument, and also 
after he had received the following letter. 

"I am informed my brother, by Euquerrand of Chartres, that you 
disapprove of the thoughts of John Scott, in regard to the sacrament 
of the altar, and even regard them as heretical, because they do not 
agree with those of Paschasus, your favorite author. If it is so, I 
fear, that 3'ielding to a precipitate judgment, you have not wisely 
used the mind that God has given you. When you shall have studied 
the sacred Scriptures, you will also condemn St. Ambrose, St. Je- 
rome or St. Augustin, or else you will approve of the reasoning of 
John Scott, in relation to the Eucharist, for you will learn by taking 
the works of the fathers and of the doctors of the church, according 
to their most correct sense, that transubstantiation or the real presence 
of Christ in the Eucharist, is an error which the last century has be- 
queathed to ours." L. M. De Cormein's His. of popes, pages 338 
and 339. 

Berenger was excommunicated and at the sight of the stake he did 
recant ; he did this several times, but as soon as clear, he still main- 
tained his opinion ; of course he coulld not get a fair trial. Lan- 
franc was ordered to explain his faith as a witness against him, not 
by reason or facts, but by the authorities of the church ; the last 
thing that ought to be accepted in a court of law then or to-da}'. 



356 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

It was sufficient to accuse a person ; they never saw each other, no 
evidence was wanted, the accusation was enough ; all that was 
asked was to confess ; failing to do that, they were taken into what 
was called the Hall of Torture, and maimed and bruised, almost be- 
yond human endurance, and then thrust into a filthy dungeon to 
groan alone, no eye to pity, none dare to help ; you might starve to 
death, or die of some loathsome disease, lurking in the foul cell. 
This is the work of holy Mother church so-called. To be Christ's 
servants, we must have his spirit. Is the above the spirit of him who 
wept over Jerusalem, who is waiting to take all into his arms, as a 
hen gathers her brood under her wings? Oh yes ! we know them by 
their fruit. 

Some of the tortures invented were fiendish, and we can hardly 
expect anything else, since the church so called came from the bot- 
tomless pit. 

Just imagine if you can, what it is to be suffocated, by having water 
poured into your stomach, the pouring kept on until the work is done, 
or to have your feet dipped into some inflamible solution, and then 
lighted, until they are burned to a crisp and then put into a cell, 
alone, to contemplate the loss of your feet ; again, to be drawn up to 
the ceiling by pulleys, and suddenly let fall to within a foot of the 
floor, to dislocate 3'our joints, or to have two pieces of wood filled 
with large needles or small spikes, and then the tongue pressed bet- 
ween them — the pain must be horrible, and it soon begins to swell 
and fill the mouth, and if not removed, suffocation is possible. 

The greatest number of tortures are applied to the tenderest parts 
of the body ; they cannot be published, but it makes one's blood 
creep, and to think we belong to the same race of men, and then we 
are asked to accept the religion of such fiends. Never ! ! Never ! I 

We have given in this book a few of the massacres which were 
done because the Inquisition did or could not kill fast enough, and 
some of the crusades against the Waldenses and others, but there 



THE INQUISITION. 357 

were the cnisades to the holy land, which lasted over a century, and 
which killed between one and two millions of people. Some say 
more ; this is all the work of this tender and loving church so-called, 
with the advice and assistance of this sacred Inquisition, 

With what a satanical cruelty these priests preached these crusades 
from their pulpit ; their tongues seemed loosened ; when they wish 
to fire the hearts of their congregation t© the boiling point for evil, 
against Protestants, they filled their hearts with rage, and never 
seemed so eloquent as when they were urging on the people to mur- 
der, blood and destruction ; had 3'ou asked any of them to preach 
the love and mercy from Christ's Gospel, they would have sunk 
below zero at once. • 

And are not the pulpits used to-day, more for a political purpose 
than any other? Do they not control the elections from these pulpits? 
We approve of the precautions used by the government to keep 
people honest in their voting, but why not put an embargo on these 
pulpits, and say you shall not preach or intimidate the people as to 
their acts. 

Such a thing as that would be called by some of the upholders of 
this so-called church, dreadful heresy, but our eyes are opened ; we 
have a different intelligence in the world than a few centuries since ; 
it is time we shook off this leprosy, and the time is near at hand 
when this so-called church will have, like Sheakspeare's bully Pistol, 
to eat her own leek ; it only wants a few more overt acts, for the 
beginning of the end to come, and we wish to warn the people that 
the sooner the breaks are put on, the sooner the train will stop, and 
with the smallest amount of danger. 

We said we would show the Inquisition was yet in force ; to do so 
we will begin from about 1840. 

Roman Catholic Priests are very jealous at having any branch of 
their profitable business interfered with, one of which is the marriage 
ceremony. 



358 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

A case of supposed interference occured about this time by two 
Roman Catholics being joined together by a Protestant minister, 
whom we think is the only fit person to perform such an important 
and sacred covenant. It angered the Roman bishop, and he sent 
an unchristian letter to the minister which was the means of bringing 
the two together, and the arguments of the Protestant so calmed the 
angry priest, and after several calls, induced him to read some books 
of these dreadful Protestants. At\er this he ventured to open the 
sacred pages of the Bible, in which he saw God's plan of redemption, 
and it was so opposite to the plan of popery that it won his heart and 
he let in Christ. So of course popery was of no further use to him. 
He left Rome and joined the church of Jesus as a minister, and 
began to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. 

This so incensed the church of Rome, that they laid at once a trap 
lor the reformed priest, in the true Inquisition style. This was in her 
majesty's dominions, so of course great secrecy was used, and the 
craft of the Jesuit was here brought into play ; and one of these, a 
Spaniard, made the acquaintance of this reformed priest, under the 
disguise of an Italian layman. He professed great friendship, but 
threw off all religion, making the excuse that he did not want to talk 
about it. This pretended friendship went on until the heart of the 
reformer was won and all suspicion vanished. They would walk 
out together, and on one night well suited for the purpose, they were 
by design, waylaid by a number of men, and he was dragged in a 
Cathredral and made a prisoner in one of the cells ; he was then made 
by fear of a violent death, to write letters dictated by these cunning 
Jesuits, in which it was made to appear to the Romanists, that he left 
the Roman church to better his condition financialh^ and also to 
write to the Protestants to say it was his intention to return to the 
most Holy Catholic church. 

Once in the hands of these priests, all trace of him was lost, and 
he was kept iintil placed on a ship as a prisoner, and sent to France 



THE INQUISITION. 359 

and there deli\ered secretly to some French bishop, who after a time 
sent him in the same secret manner to Rome, where he was sen- 
tenced to serve a term of years in a convent ; these places are so built 
that men can be easily lost to the public, who know nothing of the 
treachery going on within these dreadful walls. 

This man, after many years, obtained his liberty of person, but his 
mind was enslaved to that of a tool of this so-called loving and mer- 
ciful church, and then the above facts became known. Here is one 
case, proving the bold workings of these Jesuits, and showing the 
Inquisition is still in force. 

About the middle of the iplh century the people of Italy groaned 
under the exactions of the papacy but were unable to free themselves. 
The Austrians gave their power to the pope and by this means kept 
Italy in temporal and spiritual bondage, and they were forced to bear 
the impositions of the pope. But the Hungarians, revolting against 
Austria, and so weakened her, and also the revolution in France, 
1848, gave the Italians hope, and they took advantage of Austria's 
embarrassment, and with Garibaldi at their head, with an army of 
Italian voluteers, entered Rome, deposed the pope and proclaimed 
a Roman Republic in February, 1849. '^^^ pope escaped in the 
disguise of a priest, and went to Gaeta, in the Veap olitan territory. 

But previous to leaving, he made sure of the poor prisoners in the 
Inquisition at Rome. Strict orders he left with the officers, to keep 
them as closely guarded as ever; no hope for them, although this 
tyrant was fleeing for his worthless life. It was a few weeks after 
the republic was established before these prisons were discovered, 
and the government gave the holy office for the use of poor families, 
and then these doors were opened for the first time in three centauries. 
O ! What a scene to find hidden under these grey stone vaults. 

Prisoners who had lost all hope, to once more hear friendl}' voices 
and then to see those subterranean passages that had been filled with 
victims cruelly murdered by this relentless so-called church. 



360 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Can you imagine the scene? Can you wonder at the oaths sent 
against these heartless fanatics, and also the terror of the beholders 
as they felt that they themselves might be betrayed? 

This building was a prison in the time of Nero, but additions had 
been made, by placing at different periods other stories on the 
original, which made it as found by the Roman republic. Might 
not this prison have once contained the person of the Apostle Paul, 
who knows? This place as now found was truly a dreadful one ; 
the subterranean passages were so concealed that they were with 
much difficulty found, and after removing black, oily earth, and 
going down, down stone steps, to find what? fragments of what had 
once been men and women, and who had been thrown down from 
the holes above, and which were at once closed to exclude all light, 
maimed in their falls, limbs broken, but left to die in their agonies 
without food or any attendance. There was seen old fashioned gar- 
ments of both sexes, women's long hair, bones, skulls, and other evi- 
dences of cruelty, enough to horrif}^ the beholders ; the cells were in 
some cases used for throwing down the prisoners, b}' removing a 
stone in the floor and they went down heavily, perhaps twenty or 
twenty -five feet to the bottom, to lay groaning in a darkness and 
silence beyond description. 

In one place, after removing the rubbish, they discovered stone 
steps to the number of twenty-five or more, and here was found a 
horrible method of putting people to death, by placing them in a cell 
filled with a soft mortar, which a person could live in as long as his 
strength would last, the mortar reached up to his chin and by stand- 
ing in this mortar of course could breath, and so prolong life, but no 
sleep could be obtained, and life was only a question of time : as long 
as your strength holds out ; for the moment the body gave way, 
night or day, the mortar would cover the face and suffocation would 
follow ; so in order to live you must put forth vour utmost strength, 
standing all the time, hungry, cold, in pain, sure death before }'0u, to 



THE INQUISITION. 361 

get the least ease by reclining was impossible, for there was the 
dreadful mortar ready to cover over your mouth and nostrils, and 
this done at the same time these red handed murderers were polut- 
ing God's word by an attempted revision, and these victims, after a 
mock trial, were led over traps in the floor, which gave way and 
hurled them into these living tombs. The above description is but a 
ver}' small part of what was really found, but it is enough to show 
the use the pope makes of his temporal power which we, as a nation 

are asked to be a party to help to restore ; and this in the nineteenth 
century. 

And now we leave the wicked persecutions of these fiends, and 
turn to a nation that has suffered dreadfully at their hands, and as a 
precautionary measure, had put some legal (not iron) fetters on, and 
with feelings of hope for the future, were opening the way for their 
release, and once more give them a chance to live on terms of 
equality ; we do this now to show the forgiving spirit of the Prot- 
estants in contrast to the malignity of pagans. 

In the days of Queen Elizabeth of England, these Roman Catho- 
lics, had sown such sedition and treason, that every priest and Jesuit 
was ordered to leave the country, and their banishment was just, for 
they were plotting murder among other things, but these poor people 
in the wretched cells at Rome and other places, had done nothing ; 
their fault consisted in being better, and a pattern to their miserable 
persecutors. 

On the 13th of February, 1689, a Proclamation was issued to the 
English people, beginning with 

Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God in his great mercy to this 
kingdom, to vouchsafe us a merciful deliverance from popery and 
arbitary power, and that our preservation is due next under God to 
the resolution and conduct of his highness, Prince of Orange. 

The Proclamation also announced that William and Mary were 
king and queen of England. ' 



362 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

England's troubles, losses, wars, internal and external, are beyond 
anyone's conception, excepting they follow histor}-, and then they 
must search that very closely, to fix a tithe on their minds. England 
had seen it must at all risks, rid itself of this internal enemy that had 
fixed its deadly grasp on their vitals, and to clear popery from their 
shores forever, and they had happily succeeded as the Proclama- 
tion stated. 

The Catholics, in order to cement their power had filled nearl}^ 
every office with their own people, and by that means had put every 
one else in the back ground and had become masters of an over- 
whelming amount of property, and had laid their hands on the riches 
of the country, to support an extravagant priesthood, as well as send 
money out of the country to foment troubles, to encourage wars, and 
to help fill the treasury of the pope of Rome. 

How much this is like the process of to-dav, in these lectures from 
Europe, about Ireland, when you read their speaches ; what do they 
amount to? Nothing ; but money, and England had had up to that 
lime, a surfeit. 

This was now all changed, but some of the old despotism clung to 
the church of England, and the dissenters agitated for relief, and in 
making laws for their benefit, the Roman Catholics were excluded 
from holding any office ; all were given to the Protestants. 

This does seem arbitrary, but when we take into consideration the 
fact that Romanists, led on by a corrupt priesthood, will not live like 
any one else ; put them on an equality and they at once, ever}-- 
where, begin to foment strife in order to become masters, and keep 
getting worse, until they are again banished ; and this plan is now 
being adopted in America and England, and will end in a deadly 
strife. 

Ireland has been a constant source of trouble to England, fomen- 
ted by priests ; Protestants were oppressed there, societies were 
formed on both sides for self protection, laws amended at different 



THE INQUISITION. 363 

times, but nothing would or ever will satisfy the Catholic Irish, kept 
in darkness as they are by the priests. 

The Protestant Irish live in peace by themselves, and are as happy 
as any other nation. 

The time had come when some of the statesmen of England 
thought they would give the Catholics another chance, and on the 
5th of March, 1829, Mr. Peel (Sir Robert Peel) rose in the English 
House of Commons on the subject of the Roman Catholic emancipa- 
tion bill. The Duke of Wellington had also brought the measure in 
the Lords. 

Mr. Peel said he had for years attempted to maintain the exclu- 
sion of Roman Catholics from Parliament, and high offices of the 
state. 

This bill would admit a Roman Catholic to Parliament, upon 
taking an oath, in place of the old oath of supremacy, that he would 
support the existing institutions of the state, and not injure those of 
the church. 

It would admit a Roman Catholic to all the greatest offices of 
government, with the exception of regent — lord chancellor of Eng- 
land and viceroy of Ireland ; from all offices of the church, universi- 
ties and schools, they would be excluded ; this speech occupied some 
three or four hours. 

There had been several thousand petitions presented to parliament, 
the greater part against the proposed concession. 

Lord Eldon in the Lords' said: "If a Roman Catholic were ever 
admitted to form part of the legislature, or to hold any of the great 
offices of the state, from that moment the sun of Great Britain was set 
forever. 

This bill passed both houses and received the ro3'-al assent the 1 3th of 
April, 1829. 

We make no charge against any one in this matter, those who 
supported the bill, did it, we hope from conscientious motives, but 



364 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

it is Stated before this bill was brought before the houses, the pope 
had sent over two millions of dollars to England, to corrupt the pub- 
lic papers and to pay for the orators. 

Did Mr. Peel and the Duke of Wellington know the exact posi- 
tion of the papacy, for whose benefit these bills were passed? or did 
the members of both houses find out if all was right at Rome or 
other places? did these members find time from the pleasures of life, 
or the pressure of public business, to see befoi"e they granted any 
concessions, if the spirit of popery had changed, or all persecutions 
ceased, .or could they have known that at that moment, citizens of 
various countries, equally as good as themselves, were dying with 
the greatest cruelty in various cells of these churches, monastries, 
and convents? Did they know of the horrors going on in the inqui- 
sition at Rome? We fear not. 

Do any of our legislatures know anything about the cruelties of 
this so-called church? They are built in our midst, our little chil- 
dren are educated in them, after a fashion, and that is all the bulk 
of us know. Ought we not to be sufficiently interested to have the cur- 
tains raised and know more of what is done behind these sombrous 
walls, with their dark passages and cells? 

If it was the church of Christ, why these appendixes? Is force 
necessary to bring men into the kingdom? God does not force, and 
why should men? Conversion is not brought about by fear, it is 
done by love ; force is not required to rule christians, it only becomes 
necessary when men take its name for sinister purposes. 

And we fear this measure became a law without proper enquiry ; 
too much leniency to the criminal is a mistake ; it injures the law- 
abiding citizen ; had these laws not passed, England would have 
been in a better position to-day. 

What was the first act of the Jesuits after the passing of the Eman- 
cipation bill? Wh}^ they returned in great numbers to England 
and begun at once their plotting, and since then numbers of clergy- 



THE INQUISITION. 365 

men after preaching for a time in the church of England have gone 
over to the church of Rome. Thousands of tracts were issued by 
these Puseyites to corrupt the members of this church ; and they 
are here amongst us, living as teachers in the best famihes, sowing 
the seed of their craft so cunningly that fathers and mothers are not 
aware their children are unconsciously drinking in poison from the 
lips of those they pay to educate their children, preferring these 
teachers to many others so much more desirable ; but we pass on 
from this digression. 

Pius IX, when elected in 1846, was detested by all ; his election 
was made in error ; he was without a friend, but from policy, he 
made friends with the Jesuits. 

The inquisitors had the press under their control, the people of 
Rome were in a revolutionary state and wanted a free press, and to 
have the Jesuits expelled from Rome. 

There was a band enrolled called the Sanfidesti or society of holy 
faith ; these assassins were emissaries of the papacy, and are always 
ready, and on this occasion were hired to dispose of the leaders; 
their daggers were first blest by some cardinals, and a good sum of 
money as a reward given ; the plot was discovered, and failed ; but 
a number of these were arrested b}' the liberal party and 
acknowledged they received their daggers from a bishop and a 
cardinal. 

The people of Rome had wanted a national guard for their own 
protection, but had been refused by the pope ; he had now given 
way to pressure, and the guard was formed, and the first use to be 
made of it was, the Jesuits wanted the pope to send it to guard their 
places of rendezvous, the convents and monasteries. This enraged 
the people, and the cr^-^ of death to the Jesuits and monks was 
heard. 

The guard refused the order of the pope, and the Jesuits saw their 
places would be burned down, and so they vacated, both monks 



366 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

* and nuns, and the pope contrived to send them to America to con- 
vert the Americans and to build convents and monasteries here. 

Let us notice, these Jesuits, monks and nuns, and this order of 
Sanfidesti, or Society of Holy Faith, were Italians, Sicilians, some 
Austrians, but all Catholics, and they were expelled or made a re- 
treat in time. 

How does this agree with the work lately done in New Orleans ? 
One would think these were the descendants of this Sanfidesti so- 
ciety, which they now call the Mafia ; another band of assasssins and 
intimidators ; the word mafia means to intimidate ; things are begin- 
ning to work. Another society now shows itself called Camorra ; 
they come from the parent stock ; they learned their lesson in Italy, 
under the shade of the Vatican, and. come here to blossom. 

This murder of Chief Hennessv in New Orleans, and which was 
so terribly punished in the prison, are the lessons taught in this most 
holy Rome, and by this relentless so-called church. 

We are sowing the wind, we shall soon reap the whirlwind ; 
trouble is maturing. Popery-never changes. How does this agree 
with the Cronin case at Chicago? Also, where does the packing of 
juries come from ? 

In Catholic countries such work as the mere assassination of Chief 
Henness}' gets rewarded, and these people do not like to be punished 
by Protestants, for they consider themselves their masters ; hence 
the packing of juries ; and then, see who the priests are that per- 
formed the useless ceremony of the last rites of their church. A 
report says, " Father Leary, of the Jesuits, this morning performed 
the last sacred rites of the church over the elder, Mardiesi, who 
was shot yesterday, and said mass tor the repose of the souls of the 
slain." So I think the resemblance of the people at New Orleans 
and those expelled from Rome is complete. 

When we think this is a Protestant country, and in March, 1891, 
and see such things, it appears like a dream. Let us see how the 



THE INQUISITION. 367 

assassins have been made? God appointed a place of refuge where 
accidental manslaughterers might take a refuge in certain cities. 

See Joshua XX, 2 and 3. 

" Speak to the children of Israel, saying, appoint out for you 
cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you, by the hand of Moses, 
that the slayer that killeth any person, unawares and unwittingly, 
may flee thither, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of 
blood." 

The above, with a few of the following verses, is the law laid down 
by God with reference to loss of life. We see the embr3'o law, 
as established since, in the courts of justice, to try men and give 
them protection from the vengeance of man, until their guilt or in- 
nocence is known. It also distinguishes between murder and man- 
slaughter. So that man should not be left to the tender mercy of the 
family, out of which the deceased came. But to be tried b}' men of 
sober judgment, without prejudice. 

Society was then in such a crude state that men could not, con- 
trol their passions as to-day, and this law was given to do justice 
to all. But the good intention of the above law has, in a great 
many instances, been entirely frustrated b}' the abuses introduced 
by this so-called church, under the head of holy sanctuarj^ Cities 
of refuge had been done away with before Jesus came. Prisons 
had been built, evidence given by witnesses, and before judges, im- 
partial. 

But this so-called church, a long time after it was established in 
the seventh century, saw a means of giving them great power and 
influence, and money, as large sums were given to protect murder- 
ers and assassins, and this also threw a sort of mock sanctity over 
them, and the unwarranted revival of the these cities of refuge, en- 
couraged all sorts of crime, and in fact became the nursery of assas- 
sins and law-breakers. 



368 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

No city in the world could breed them faster, or find for them 
scuh employment, as that one under the shadow of the Vatican, and 
same thing has occurred in all places under their control. 

The cathedrals were used as places of refuge, and if a murderer 
reached within a certain distance, he was on holy ground, and no 
one dare touch a man that was in holy sanctuary. 

The cathedral of St. Paul's, in London, England — the road all 
around this was once holy, so they said — it is three-quarters of a mile 
round, and the old Wesminster Abbey still retains the name of Broad 
Sanctuary ; that is, the old, noisy, paved road around it is known by 
that name ; we have often looked for the holiness, but could not see 
any difference in it from any other crusty road, but the assassin's e3'es 
might be clearer, for he went to it straight, and no donbt received 
absolution. 

And so the most sacred- things established by God have been used 
by this papacy as a speculation to make mone}^ and these things 
encouraging murder ; we may soon have here a broad sanctuary ; 
we have it in effect already m many things — also in the tampering 
with the jury. 

We resume. When the republic at Rome became a fact, and it 
was announced to the Roman people of the pope running awa}- in 
disguise in 1849, it made their hearts glad. 

One of their first acts was to burn the instruments of tortiu'e, 
and throw the ashes into the Tiber. 

Here was a people disgusted with the late government, and had 
chosen one for themselves, and were for the first time in many cen- 
turies, prosperous and happy ; but Austria, France and Spain com- 
bined to put them down, and restore the pope. 

Other nations looking on, to see this shameful spectacle, and per- 
mit it on political grounds. 

We do not give an account of the wars, but simply say the little 
republic fought well, and against greaf odds, and deserved a better 



THE INQUISITION. 369 

fate, but the cause of popery was once more forced on them with 
all of its exactions, including the sickening sight of publicly flogging 
women, which has been often done in Italy. 

The cringing spirit of Roman Catholics allows the priests to horse- 
whip them, not only there, but in Ireland, and also in the United 
States ; had we space, we could give known and sworn cases. 

The French took possession of Rome in the name of the pope, 
but they were more merciful than he, for they gave twenty-four 
hours for the Romans to leave, which a great many of the principal 
leaders did. The pope was enraged at this lienencv, but was very 
cruel to those who could not get away : some statistics sa}' he 
executed several hundreds ; many died awful deaths in the prisons, 
a large number were killed in the wars, and a still larger number 
exiled. This in the nineteenth century. 

When people speak of the Inquisition, their thoughts are carried 
to Spain ; it did rage there fearfully, under that miserable fanatic, 
Phillip II. During his reign alone, it burned, tortured or beheaded 
more than twenty-five thousand Jews, Moors and Spaniards, besides 
those who were condemned to prison, confiscation or banishment, 
which would be four times the number, and to add the Indians and 
others in the United States, the number would foot up to such a 
height as to startle us. Some of Spain's cruelties will be found in 
another chapter ; to give the sickening details would be onh' a repe- 
tition of some of the brutal sights already furnished in our chapter on 
Spain, but that benighted country was not the only one in which the 
Inquisition raged, as we have seen, but Austria, France and other 
countries, were filled with prisons, after the same style ; the same 
cruelty all over ; what prayers and groans were going up to heaven, 
and wliich have to be yet answered ; things are done in America 
which the people have no idea of. 

If a religion cannot live without prisons and such horrid brutality, 
the sooner it sinks to where it came from, the better — the bottom- 
less pit. 



370 WHY HAVE, PRIESTS AT ALL? 

This account of the Inquisition is probably different from what you 
expected, but the writer thought he would show it was not confined 
to Spain ; that hot bed of this iniquity ; but that all countries over 
which this king of bigotries had control, suffered greatly, and the 
earth has been made a hell to those who would not cast in their lot 
with this greatest of all idolatries, but tried to serve God according 
to the pattern laid down for them bv our Saviour and the Apostles. 



CHAPTER XV. 
CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 

" And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men 
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil; For 
every one that doeth evil, hateth light, neither cometh to the light, 
lest his deeds should be reproved." — John III, 19-20. 

IN writing on the above subject, one is at a loss what to record, 
not for want of matter, for volumes could be written ; the diffi- 
culty is to select that which will not cause the blush of shame 
to tinge the cheek : the whole history of these institutions shows 
them to be places of iniquity, hedged in under the sacred name of 
religion. Why these places are not visited by intelligent men and 
women, every week, or every day if necessar}', and a regular report 
made by unprejudiced persons of the Protestant persuasion is more 
than we can understand. If a house of ill-fame is known it can be 
entered, and the inmates taken before a police court and tried. Why 
not these. If nothing is wrong, why do they object to the broad day 
light. Every place is so guarded, with the gates and bars, that a 
stranger cannot enter without the whole establishment being put on 
the guard, and then you go through with the lady superior, or others in 
charge, but are refused to speak or go where the most broken hearted 
victims are kept; we think more than half these poor creatures 
would be glad to return to the world if they could be seen, and if 



372 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

their tales of sorrow and shame were known the law would rescue 
them ; as it is, walls and bars stand between those who would 
gladly help these despairing ones. What are these places wanted 
for? Are they a necessity o^ religion? Where in God's word, can 
you find them recommended? As we have said in another part of 
this work, they are copied from the gentiles or pagans, and form 
part of the dark worship of some of the heathens of the world, and 
from which Romanism springs ; to the real christian they are an 
abomination. God never gave us any talent to shut up behind stone 
and iron gates : read the parable of the ten talents in XIX Luke ; 
he there expects us to gain other talents, not to bur^- them behind 
stone walls, and destroys the man that hid his Lord's talent in the 
earth ; in another place he says, "go ye into the world and preach the 
Gospel." Do these places fit the inmates for such work? Hear Jesus 
pray in XVII John 15, " I pray not that thou shouldest take them 
out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." 

God knows best what kind of a world to put us in, and the one 
we are in is the best, among the sin and temptations, for this is the 
battle field, and where we are to gain our victories. 

Each victory gives us strength. Those make a mistake who 
think Christianity is onl}^ a creed, it is a fight ; not only with the 
powers of darkness, but with our own heart; and we are not here to 
benefit ourselves onlv, we are to do good to others. 

If God had thought it best to shut us up in convents or monaster- 
ies. He would have told us so, and then Jesus would not have 
prayed that beautiful prayer, part of which has been related. 

This is only a false idea of piet3^ and if you had the true kind, 
you could not develop it behind stone walls ; the conception is con- 
trar}' tp God's plan of salvation. It is another couterfeit of the 
enemy. 

God sa3's, come in the right spirit, and I will give you pardon, 
through Christ. The devil savs, go and build a convent or monas- 
tery, and work it out, and in my way. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 373 

This is taking it at the best; but when we find, as the experience 
has shown everywhere, what wickedness they hide from the light, 
then every honest heart must wish to have them swept away. 

Poor places for some nev^'ly-made christians, who have been vile 
sinners, to develop in. 

Could the Apostle Paul who, to use his ov\n words, had been the 
greatest of sinners as well as a wholesale murderer, have become the 
experienced saint we find him, in a monastery? 

No ! he had to go forth, and to suffer, and to be buff"eted, and to 
be imprisoned, but under the correcting hand of God. 

These poor creatures, shut up in these dens, go through all this, 
and sometimes more, but under another master ; and instead of 
elevating and sanctifying, it reduces them to broken-hearted, help- 
less, poor dependent creatures, to whom life is a burden, a monot- 
ony, without hope for the present or future. 

What kind of books do they have ? mostly lives of saints, most of 
them imaginary characters, and dished up to suit the superstition of 
this so-called church, working on the senses and filling the mind 
with thoughts fatal to Christianity ; many of the nuns die early, 
othei"s go insane, tempted from their homes by false statements, 
promised such exemption from cares, sheltered from man. who is 
looked upon as an enemy, expecting to find an earthly paradise and 
live among saints, and angelic creatures ; taught almost to despise 
their parents, and to leave them at a time of life when they ought to 
rally round them, and in some measure repay for the watching over 
their tender years, forgetting, if ever they knew, God's first com- 
mandment, with promise, "honor thy father and mother, that thy days 
may be long in the land, that the Lord thy God giveth thee." But 
what is the word of God in such a place as that? Do these poor girls 
that have been watched from their infancy t)y some of the Jesuits, 
and perhaps never had an opportunity of speaking to one out of this 
sectarian church alone, but watched at every step, virtually prisoners 



37+ WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

from the cradle ? Do these, when entrapped, reahze the happy 
home and companionship promised by those who, by a system of 
cruel deception, have lured them into the horrid prisons? We will 
take the testimony of some of the few who have escaped this earthly 
pollution. 

What protection have these poor girls, taken awav from father, 
mother, brother, and all who could protect them, and left to the 
mercy of these priests who repudiate marriage, and are the only 
outsiders allowed in the part of the prison where they are shut up ? 

A mother or a father that would consent to place a girl in such a 

hopeless, helpless condition ought to well, let their conscience 

speak. 

What slavish superstition ? It shows how blind and dead a family 
can be to let this convent system open its deadly arms and swallow 
up these dear, unoffending creatures ; no doubt, as a rule, they are 
supeinor to the church they worship in, and are no doubt trying to 
find God, and are persuaded this is the best way ; but when the 
truth flashes over them, after they have made the false step and 
think it is too late to retrace, after the gates have closed them in, and 
all retreat shut off, oh ! what a wail of sorrow must go up from these 
broken-heai'ted creatures who find themselves surrounded, not by 
the angelic creatures they were taught to expect, but by women 
w^hose hearts have been hardened by this deception, and who delight 
in cruelty, and placing heavv burdens, almost unbearable, on these 
poor slaves who have chosen their master through ignorance, and 
find this, as they supposed earthly paradise, to be nothing but an 
earthly hell. Oh, mothers, fathers, relatives, this is what you are 
doing for the children ^-ou have raised, and no doubt love. We hope 
this mav be the means of snatching some poor girl from these 
painted sepulchres, and remember, when anyone tries to escape 
from this so-called church, they offer sometimes great rewards to 
get them back in their clutches. If they do not succeed, then they 



CONVENTS AND :\IONASTERIES. 375 

vilify and persecute. If the poor creatures have kept themselves 
white as snow, they make them appear black as coals ; no mercy is 
shown ; they have been in many known and unknown cases, hunted 
to death ; and the worst is, this religion reverses human nature, 
turns father and mother against their child. 

Jesus said, a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He 
knew what these false religions would do, so he said in the X 
Matthew 35, " For I come to set a man at variance against his 
father, and the daughter against the mother, and the daughter-in- 
law against her mother-in-law ; " he meant the true religion would 
so interfere with idolatry, that this would be the result. 

The people belonging to this so-called church ought to learn a 
lesson from this persistent plan of vilifying all who ti*}- to rise super- 
ior to its practices and teachings. Remember, chickens come home 
to roost, 3'ou may have your turn some day, you may want to change, 
and then 3'ou will be made to appear as black as the rest. 

The only way the world can progress in anything is by com- 
parison ; compare this system with others intelligently, and if you 
find it is the best plan, and above all, God's plan, then cling tn it; 
if 3'Ou find something better, then leave it ; go outside the limits of 
your priests so-called ; mix with Protestants in their worship, and 
think as you should ; you belong to yourself, and to God ; and not 
to a clique, and do not allow yovirselves to be cramped up by rules 
made especially to deceive. For instance, you have a list of books 
you are forbidden to read ; those are the very first books you should 
read, and then you will see the reason why they were refused. 
Were you acquainted with these books, you could be in a position to 
answer for yourself. You would then see why they are called so vile 
and deadly, vicious, and all the names m the calender, and then find 
out why the Bible is kept back ; it would pay well for the time spent. 
Another foolish thing; "we are the first church." If 3'ou have 



37^ WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

read this book you must see it is proved to the contrary, but sup- 
posing you are ; does age make a people or a system better? The 
devil is about as old as anything in the world ; does that make him 
good ? 

The writer expects this book to be evil-spoken of by these people, 
but will that alter the facts? 

Those of you who have read the way life is spent in these con- 
vents by the poor inmates, must at once see the mode does not pro- 
duce the best women ; the latter are kept going through forms so 
tedious and useless, fatiguing the body, cramping the mind ; every- 
thing tends to make them slaves and dull the intelect. 

The continued sham worship, sometimes in a language very few 
understand, the ridiculous penances, such as kissing the floor or 
the superior's teet, the marching to the table, and all innocent lan- 
guage suppressed, being always under the eye of some one watching 
every movement, night and day, must tend to give a slavish fear to 
these poor creatures, and make life miserable, and how easy to 
deceive people who must be tired of life, and who are taught black is 
white, or to speak plainly, are told that to commit sin, is no sin at 
all. if only done with a priest ; with those who pretend to be the ser- 
vants of God, when their actions prove them to be the servants of 
another master. 

We will listen now to what some of these that have escaped from 
these prison houses tell us. 

I will relate the first day's experience of one of these vilified per- 
sons, in a convent, who, after having passed throvigh that which 
appears to the naked eye so impressive, and so serious and real, and 
done impiously, in the name of God, in the taking of the veil, and 
done by a bishop who knows to what a helpless condition this poor 
innocent 3'oung woman would be placed in as soon as the mockery 
was over. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 377 

The writer selects one from a number of books all telling the same 
tale, and in some cases affirming it on oath, so they cannot be all 
wrong. I take the case of Maria Monk, of Montreal. 

" After taking the vows, I proceeded to a small apartment behind 
the alter, accompanied by four nuns, where there was a coffin, pre- 
pared with my nun name engraved upon it, 

[Saint Eustace.] 

My companions lifted it by four handles attached to it, while I 
threw oft" my dress and put on that of a nun of Sour Bourgeoise, 
and then w^e all returned to the chapel. I proceeded first, and was 
followed by the four nuns. 

The bishop, naming a number of worldl}'^ pleasures in rapid svic- 
cession, in reply to which I rapidly repeated, I renounce, I renounce, 
I renounce. 

The coffin was then placed in front of the alter, and I advanced to 
la}' myself in it. The coffin was to be deposited, after the ceremony, 
in an outhouse, to be preserved until my death, when it was to 
receive my corpse. 

There were reflections which I naturally made at the time, but I 
stepped in, extended myself, and lay still. 

A pillow had been placed at the head of the coffin to support my 
head in a comfortable position. 

A large thick black cloth was then spread over me, and the chant- 
ing of Latin hymns immediately commenced. 

My thoughts were not the most pleasing during the time 1 lay in 
that situation. 

The pall, or drap mortel, as the cloth is called had a strong 
smell of incense, which was always disagreeable to me, and then 
proved almost suffocating. 

I recollected also a story I had heard of a novice who, in taking 
the veil, lay down in her coffin like me, and was covered in the same 
manner, but on the removal of the covering was found dead. 



378 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

When I was uncovered, I rose, stepped out of my coffin and 
kneeled. The bishop then addressed these words to the Superior. 
"Take care and keep pure and spotless this young Virgin, whom 
Christ has consecrated to himself this day." x^fter which the music 
commenced, and here the whole was finished. 

I then proceeded from the chapel and returned to the superior's 
room, followed by the other nuns, who walked two b\' two in their 
customary manner, with their hands folded on their breasts, and their 
eyes cast down upon the floor. 

The nun who was to be my companion in the future, then walked 
at the head of the procession. 

On reaching the superior's door, thev all left me, and I entered 
alone, and found her with the bishop and two priests. 

The superior now informed me that having taken the black veil, it 
only remained that I should swear the three oaths customar}- on be- 
coming a nun, and that some explanations w^ould be necessary- from 
her ; I was now, she told me, to have access to every part of the edi- 
fice, even to the cellar, where two of the sisters were imprisoned for 
causes which she did not mention. 

I must be informed that one of my great duties v\-as to obey the 
priests in all things, and this I soon learned, to my utter astonishment 
and horror, was to live in the practice of criminal intercourse with 
them. 

I expressed some of the feelings which this announcement excited 
in me, which came upon me like a flash of lightning, but the only 
effect was to set her arguing with me in favor of the crime, repre- 
senting it as a virtue, acceptable to God, and honorable to me. 

The priests, she said, were not situated like other men, being for- 
bidden to marry, while they live secluded, laborious and self denying 
lives for our salvation. 

They might indeed be considered our saviors, as without their 
services we could not obtain the pardon of sins, and must go to hell ! ! 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 379 

Now it was GUI" solemn duty on withdrawing from tlie world, to 
consecrate our lives to religion, to practice every species of self de- 
nial. We could not become too humble, nor mortify our feelings too 
far ; this was to be done by opposing them, and acting contrary to 
them, and what she proposed was, therefore, pleasing in the sight of 
God. I now felt how foolish I had been to place myself in the power 
of such persons as were around me. 

From what she said I could draw no other conclusion, but that I 
was required to act like the most abandoned of beings, and that all 
my future associates were habitually guilty of the most heinous and 
detestable crimes. 

When I repeated my expressions of surprise and horror, she told 
me that such feelings were very common at first, and that many 
other nuns had expressed themselves as I did, who had long since 
changed their minds. She even said, that on her entrance into the 
nunnery, she had felt like me. 

Doubts, she declared, were among our greatest enemies. They 
would lead us to question every point of duty, and induce us to waver 
at every step ; they were evidences of sin ; we must repent and con- 
fess. 

Priests could not sin, it was impossible ; so she hoped I would 
take the oaths and be faithful to them. 

She also said, infants were born in the convent, but they were 
baptized, and immediately strangled. 

This secured their everlasting happiness. 

Their little souls would thank those who kill their bodies, if the}' 
had it in their power. 

How differently did a convent now appear. 

The holy women ! the Lady superior! what were they? x\nd the 
priests I had reason to believe were base and profligate men. 

And now a number of the nuns were admitted ; they concurred in 
everything, and criminated themselves. I had been several years 



380 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

under the tuition of Catholics, and was ignorant of the Scriptures ; 
had no society or example or conversation with Protestants." 

And now this poor girl has not been twelve hours in the convent, 
before she thinks of escaping ; but she is tight behind bolts and bars, 
so let us finish that part of her statement which binds her closer to the 
awful system, and completes her ruin. 

"Nothing important occurred, until late in the afternoon, when, 
as I was sitting in the communion room, father Dutresne called me 
out. saying he wanted to speak to me. 

I feared what were his intentions, but I dared not disobey. In a 
private apartment, he treated me in a brutal manner, and from two 
other priests, I afterwards received similar usage that evening. 

Father Dufresne afterwards appeared again, and I was compelled 
to remain in company with him until morning." — Maria Monk. 

In the same book we get an insight into these most holy, holy 
places. A number of young ladies enter as novices, and luckily for 
them, many are disgusted and leave ; this, no doubt, happens to the 
spirited ones ; they like best the poor half frightened girls, and they 
call that piet}', or give it the favorite name, holiness. 

One of the plucky kind came as a novice, and was there about 
two weeks. The first day she attended mass ; while at dinner, she 
said before us all, "What a rascal that priest was to preach against 
his best friend." 

All stared at such an unusual exclamation, and some one inquired 
what she meant. 

"I say," she continued, "he has been preaching against him who 
gives him bread; do you suppose that if there weie no devil, there 
would be any priests?" How often the truth comes out at a time 
and in a place least expected. This young lady was dismissed, she 
had not enough guilibilit}- for them, a good job for her. If she had 
only gone through the mockery of the veil, there would possibly be 
another smothering case to report. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 381 

Here let me give briefly the murder of St. Francis ; this girl re- 
fused to become a prostitute, and expressed a wish to escape from 
this horrid den. 

That was her crime, so she was tied to a bed so she could not 
move, and gagged, and another bed thrown over her, and a priest 
named Bonin, sprung like a fury first upon it, and stamped upon it 
with all his force. Then the nuns followed, piling upon her, not 
only to smother, but to bruise her ; some stood up and jumped on her 
with their feet, others with their knees, beating the breath out of her 
body, and this continued until she was dead, and then her body un- 
ceremoniously thrown in a hole in the cellar, covered with lime, and 
sprinkled with vitrol, so that their victim would soon be beyond all 
recognition. This same book speaks of children being born in the 
convent, and after baptism, being as regularly smothered and thrown 
into the hole in the cellar, covered also with lime and vitrol. It 
speaks also of two prisoners in the dark cells in the cellar, being 
kept there for years, and no one dares even to speak or ask what 
they are there for, and the poor creatures are so frightened at a foot- 
step, that they tell anyone that comes to speak a kind word, to go 
away for fear of the priests. 

It speaks of private passages to the convent, known only to the 
priests who have access night and day. It speaks of such degrading 
penances, some of which are drinking the water after washing the 
superior's feet, eating worms, etc., and cruelty almost equal to the 
inquisition. 

It speaks of one case of a young woman being for the sake of her 
money, enticed into this place, and these poor creatures helped in 
the deception ; she was threatened, flattered and agreed to take the 
veil without any delay, and when once in, refused to see her father, 
and these poor dupes conspired with the superior, to tell such lies of 
her happiness to the father, that he paid the money, and they called 
him an old fool,' behind his back when gone. 



382 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Could any man, but a papist not see through this flimsy work? 
And then it speaks of the age of the nuns, and says it is a rare thing 
to be over forty 3-ears of age ; this speaks wonders ; where do they 
go to ; do they follow Saint Francis, or go to the insane asylum. 

The monotonous method of saying so manv false and toolish 
prayers, the fear of the priests, and the penance so disgusting, so 
degrading, together with the destroying of all womanlv feeling, all 
the joys of youth that God gave to be used for the pertecting of the 
religious character; the degredation of this whole monastic system 
keeps the mind so on the strain, alwa3's on one dreary subject, saints 
versus devils. Was it true religion, it would comfort and elevate ; 
but this is so apt to cause insanity, that it may in some measure ex- 
plain their short lives. 

The author of the above book, Maria Monk, it was said of her, 
her words were not worth taking : her statements criminating her- 
self. 

If that is the reason, let us take the evidence of one who was 
superior to that, and who resisted all attempts, even the process of 
drugging. 

We now speak of Edith O'Gorman, another escaped nun. 

This lady, whom we have had the pleasure of hearing lecture, 
had an indomitable spirit, and a great idea of right and wrong, and 
could not be persuaded by this Jesuitical system, that to commit the 
greatest sins, breaking God's commandments, would be pleasing in 
His sight, if only done in His name, and under a mask of hypocris}', 
so her word, one would suppose, would be believed by these papists, 
outside of the convents, but no ! they don't want proof, they are so 
glued to this worse than apostacy, that they oppose anything and 
everything without knowledge or reason, opposed to their system. 
There are some grand exceptions. 

You must read her books to find out how she has been persecuted 
everywhere, especially in that country, England, who was the 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 383 

greatest friend of spiritual freedom, and who will be so again, as 
soon as their eyes are once more opened. I can only give a sketch 
or two. 

She confirms all Maria Monk has said, the same thing only whh 
variations, and being in America instead of Canada. 

She speaks and lifts the curtain and shows the difference between 
the same persons, before the public and in the presence of her 
slaves. We copy from one of her books, page 50. 

Sister Mary Joseph, was the name given to the great light of the 
convent at Paterson, N. J., of which she is writing, and at which 
time she was an inmate. She is attending to the .scholars, and has 
just received notice to dress the children, one Sunday morning, in 
their green uniforms. 

Just before the time for starting, this Sister Mary Joseph rushes in, 
demanding to know why the red uniforms are not put on. She is 
reminded that she ordered the green. So this amiable lady who 
has the forming of the minds of the establishment, "rushed toward 
and violently striking or pushing me," are her own words, and add- 
ing "you lying, lazy creature, change the green for the red in five 
minutes or I'll break every bone in your body." etc. 

The poor children were obliged to change their clothes in about 
five minutes, to be in time for church, causing the greatest confu- 
sion amongst themselves, and leaving everything in the wildest dis- 
order and so keeping me until noon in restoring things to their 
proper order. It was unusual to hear Sister Mary Joseph speak 
civilly to the sisters, but what a transformation was there in her 
manner and countenance, when she received and conversed with 
her admiring guests in the parlor. 

She appeared then all smiles and amiability. To the world she 
was a saint ; a sweet, holy sister ; behind the scenes she was a 
demon ; a fierce, arbitrary virago. I will lift the curtain a little 
more which hides her from the world. 



384 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

I was one day obliged to consult her on a matter of obediance re- 
lative to the orphans, fearing lest I should forget it, and incur the 
penalty of a severe penance. I left my class in the school and 
hastened to the community room, where I expected to find her at 
her post of duty, but she was not there. 

I noiselessly went to her bedroom, and cautiously opened the door, 
fearing to disturb her should she be asleep or indisposed. She was 
not asleep, but entertaining a reverend father, (whose name I will 
not give, because he is now dead, and I have chiefly to treat with 
the living, who can defend themselves if I wrong them) in a manner 
very little in accordance witli convent rules, or the ideas of a pure 
3'oung girl, who judged all things charitably, and thought evil of 
none. 

She was enraged at my intrusion, and violently pushed me 
through the hall, and down the stairs. 

The fall was so severe that I walked lame for over a week. She 
was afraid I might report her conduct to the other sisters, therefore, 
in the evening, she called me to her room, apologized a little for 
throwing me down stairs, and begged of me not to mention to any- 
one the adventure of the afternoon. 

Her excuse was that Fater D. was suddenly taken verv ill while 
calling on business, and that she insisted upon his resting on her 
bed, where slie could more readil}' minister unto him. I have given 
a simple fact ; let the mind draw its own inferences." — Edith O'Gor- 
man, the escaped nun, pages 50 and 51. 

Edith O'Gorman's book speaks largely on the cruelt\' of the in- 
mates, one to another, particularly the superior. Womanlv hatred 
to one another seems to have a fine field for development ; the sys- 
tem gives them a power over each other, and they cruelly use it ; 
thev learn to hate, but make no progress in the religion they left 
the world to obtain ; in fact, there is no religion of the right kind in 
these places ; it is all a sham from beginning to end. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 385 

No doubt the poor creatures who enter are serious, and are 
taught this so-called church is the onl}' way to God, and when 
they find the deception that has been practiced on them, their hearts 
sink ; it changes their nature, and life becomes hopeless. 

This lady, Edith O'Gorman, speaks of a man named Walsh; she 
calls him Father Walsh, and she begins with saying : " The 
Roman Catholic priesthood, or hierarchy, is composed in a great 
part of hypocrites, but Father Walsh was certainly one of the most 
consummate hypocrites I ever met. " Surely, this lady ought to 
know^ being amongst them so many years : my space does not allow 
me to say much of any particular book, but will give a portion of 
the statement relating to this same Walsh, to show the danger of 
this lady, shut up behind stone walls, away from any help, or 
any earthly sympathy. 

She begins by saying: " Father Walsh, after his introduction to 
me, placed himself in my way, often spending from one to two 
hours a da}' in m}' class-room. 

His manner was always kind and affectionate, while he treated 
me with the most profound respect and marked attention. 

One day, about six weeks since I first saw him, he was review- 
ing my class, and when the exercises were over, he handed me 
the book, at the same time clasped my hand, and with an in- 
expressible tenderness in look and tone, said: ' Sister, I love you, 
I love you, O God ! better than my own soul, do I love you ! ' At 
these strange, passionate words, I snatched my hand from his burn- 
ing clasp, and, withovit uttering a word, I retreated from the school- 
room." 

This man was determined to follow this ladv, and he, having ac- 
cess to her class-room, was continually persecuting her. She 
makes an appeal to the Superior, who only chides her for what she 
considers an honor, to be noticed by a priest. Hear ve this ! an 
honor, and from the lips of the mother so-called of this supposed 
place of refuge and safety. 



386 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

She resists all his appeals, and so he thinks to do, b)' the aid of 
drugs, that which is refused him any other way ; so coming where 
she is, to the altar, pretending to pray, he, under the di^guise of 
friendship, offers her something to cure her cold, which he means, 
she sa3-s, to cause her ruin ; by the liand of Providence, she is pre- 
vented from takingbut a small quantity, but sufficient to show the na- 
ture of the deadly drug, as also the trap laid for her. This helpless 
woman then appeals to a bishop, who finds all sorts of excuses for 
the man, but treats lightly her attempts to save her honor." — Edith 
O'Gorman's Convent Life, page 76. 

Can you wonder at her escaping from such a place, when she sees 
religion is only used for a mask? We have the histories of these con- 
vent.-, in all lands and at all times of this so-called church, and it 
has beeen the policy to deco\- as many women as possible, and in 
some cases to drive them like sheep into these dens. The priest 
who can persuade the largest number, under the pretence of saving 
their souls, is the greatest favorite, especially if they have money. In 
fact, the mone}' is one of the great motive powers ; thev have always 
been on the lookout for rich widows, heiresses, or anyone with 
money. 

Mr. Chiniqu^'.in his Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, speaksof 
an attempt of this kind, to get the money of a lady, by lurring her 
into a convent. 

He has received a letter from the Bishop of Montreal to call at his 
earliest convenience, and the first question asked, is, are you not the 
father confessor of Mrs. Chenier? Answer, yes. I suppose you. 
know her only child is a nun, in the Congregation convent? Answer, 
yes. Could 3'ou not induce her to become a nun also? 

"I never thought of that, my lord, I answered, and I do not see why 
I should advise her to exchange her beautiful cottage, washed by the 
fresh and pure waters of the St. Lawrence, where she looks so 
happ}' and cheerful, for the gloomy walls of the nunnery." 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 387 

" But she is still young and beautiful ; she may be deceived by 
temptation, when she is there in that beautiful house, surrounded by 
all the enio3'ments of her fortune," replied the bishop. 

Part of his reply is, "A good, christian husband seems to me a 
much better remedy against the dangers than the cheerless walls of 
a nunnery." 

" You speak just as a Protestant," said the bishop ; " we remark, 
that though you hear the confessions of a great number of young 
ladies, there is not a single one of them who has ever become a nun. 
You seem to ignore that the vow of chastity is the shortest way to a 
life of holiness in this world, and happiness in the next." 

" I am sorry to differ from you, your's is a modern remedy. 
God's old one is much better, I think ; here he commends marriage. 
I know too well how the great majority of nuns keep their vows of 
chastity, to believe that the modern remedy against the temptations 
you mention is an improvement on the old one found and given by 
God," I answered. 

With an angry look, the bishop replied : 

"This is Protestantism, Mr. Chiniquy, this is sheer Protestan- 
tism." 

"It is simply and absolutely the pure word of God. Please give 
me a good reason why I should advise Mrs. Chenier to enter a mo- 
nastery, and I will comply with your request the very first time she 
comes to confess." 

The bishop said, "My first reason is, the spiritual good she would 
receive from her vows of perpetual chastity and poverty in a 
nunnery. 

The second reason is, that the lady is rich, and we are in need of 
money ; we would soon possess her whole fortune, for her only child 
is already in the congregation convent." 

"My dear bishop," I replied, "you know what I think of the first 
reason. After having investigated the fact, not in the Protestant 



388 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

books, but from the lips of nuns themselves, and father confessors, 
I am fully convinced that the real virtue of purity is much better kept 
in the homes of our christian mothers, married sisters and female 
friends, than in the secret rooms, not to say prisons, where the poor 
nuns are enchained bv the heavy fetters assumed by their vows, 
which the great majority curse when thev cannot break them. 

And for the second reason, I cannot consciously accept it. I have 
not consecrated myself to deprive families of their inheritance, to en- 
rich myself, or anj'bod}' else. I know she has poor relations who 
need her foriune after her death." 

"Do you pretend to say that 3-our bishop is a thief? " angrily re- 
joined the bishop. — Fifty years in the church of Rome, page 517. 

And after a few more such words, the bishop pretended to hide 
his feelings, and asked Mr. Chiniquy to keep the whole matter a 
secret, and he goes home to a friend, to find it is no secret, but using 
him is part of the scheme to rob this poor woman of her money. 
And this is only a very mild case ; history is full of it ; and so seldom 
do we find a man with the courage to refuse to do the vile work of 
this wholesale plundering establishment. 

This widow has onl}^ one child, a daughter ; no doubt she feels the 
loss of it very much, and has given her up at a time of life when she 
needs her companionship, to what she has been persuaded is a duty 
to God, and these wretches having the child in their pointed hands, 
they now wish to get the fond mother also. What for? Nothing but 
the purpose of fleecing the familv of their money. The bishop has 
said, to refuse to help in this business was Protestantism, sheer 
Protestantism. Thank God it is. It makes one's heart bleed to find 
in this nineteenth century, such things done, and under the govern- 
ment of a Great Protestant nation. 

We have scarcely begun to tell the story of these institutions, but 
we have not space for more, for we must say a word or so on the 
monasteries. And to begin, let us ask, what good are these places 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 3<5 

to society? Thev are built and kept up at a great expense, and in 
many cases the money is taken from such ladies as we have been 
speaking about, or wrung from poor families who need help in- 
stead ot having their poor means taken away under ecclesiastical 
threats. 

We need not here state the pretences given for their existence, they 
are so numerous, and seemingly plausible. But the end does not 
justify the cost, or the bad effect of having armies of lazy men living 
on the community and having these places of assignation in our 
midst, contaminating society, for the moral character is worse than 
convents ; drunkeness and other vices being added, and the plea of 
holiness and poverty vanishes away as soon as the curtain is lifted, 
and you see they conceal all the disorders of their lives under pre- 
tended hypocritical severity. The writer is a lover of facts, so 
let us take a peep into the past history of these establishments, 
and we will go back to the time of that pattern of purity, so-called, 
Pius V, pope in the sixteenth century, who, with his kindred allies 
in Europe, was making bonfires under heretics, all over the different 
countries, to purify the air, and if possible, to leave nothing on the 
surface but such pure creatures as himself, and the sweet ones belong- 
ing to his so-called church, some of which lived in these same con- 
vents and monasteries. 

About this time a commission was ordered to examine these places, 
for the poor trodden down people of that day were, like the wounded 
snake, beginning to squirm. 

The members of this commission were ordered to make a detailed 
report as to the means to be employed to arrest the disorders of the 
monks, and to draw up a list of the religious communities, which it 
was urgent to suppress, as well as that of the convents, which had 
preserved the spirit of their constitution in all its purity. The result 
of this inquiry was singular enough. The commissaries declared 



39° WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

that they could not find one monnstery in Italy, in which the reli- 
gious were not addicted to drunkeness, idleness, sodotpy and all 
kinds of abominations. 

They reported that in Austria, they had visited one hundred and 
twenty-two convents of men and women, and that they had counted 
in the monasteries of the monks, one hundred and ninety-nine prosti- 
tutes, and fifty-five young boys and girls of less than twelve years 
old, and in the houses of the nuns, four hundred and fourty-three 
domestics, who were at once the servants and the lovers of the sister- 
hood. 

They declared that in France, the convents were the theatres of 
even still greater outrages, and they cited, among others, the monks 
of Aurillae. In fact the disorders of these monks had so passed all 
bounds that the syndic and consuls had complained to parliament of 
Charles de Senectarie, Abbot of the convent of Aurillae and lord of 
that city. Twenty four witnesses had deposed that the Abbot 
Charles, his nephew, John Belveser. called Jouchieres, the protho 
notary of the abbey, Anthony de Senectarie, Abbot of St. John, his 
niece, Maria de Senectarie, Abbes of Bois, who Governed a convent 
of women in the same city, as well as the monks and nuns of the 
two houses, abandoned themselves habitually to every excess of the 
most horrible depravity. 

They proved that several monks had as many as five or six mis- 
tresses at once, either courtezans or young girls carried oft from 
their parents, or women suborned or ravished from their husbands. 
That they had, moreover, a large number of bastards, whom thev also 
used as their minions. The}^ proved, moreover, that the abbot Charles 
de Senectarie, made sorties at the head of his monks, beat up the 
country to find maidens, and drove before him in open day, with 
blows from his cross, such as suited him, forcing them to enter his 
den, without the fathers and mothers being able to offer the least 
resistance, from fear of being assassinated by the monks. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 39 1 

It resulted from these depositions, that the monastery of Aurillac 
was secularised. This was all ; the parliament having declared 
itself incompetent to judge the accused, being in ecclesiastical orders. 
L. de Cormein's, His. of popes, page 260. 

If Roman Catholics were not kept so ignorant of the history of 
their so-called church, theA' would not be so angry as some of them 
arc when spoken to about their religion ; had they to go through the 
same experience as the people of the dark ages had, and groaned 
under, they would gladly accept help from any one, and had it not 
been for the blessings Protestantism has brought into the world, this 
earth would now be such a wretched place that it would be a mini- 
tui'e hell. Let them go to history and find out for themselves : not 
a perverted one, written by these evil doers, to hide the pas':, but 
written by some author whose object is not self, but love to mankind, 
and whose pen places before you the tinath. 

How would you like your daughters to be driven like sheep before 
your eyes, and not a man of you dare say nay, or lift a hand to save 
your darling girls from these wretches? 

No, the so-called church had so bound them down by superstition, 
the man was all taken out. 

What could these daughters think of such fathers? 

Why, if their manhood was not gene, a dozen of them combined, 
could chase a hundred of such cowards ; we pity these men, because 
the law was on the side of the monks. It was a very convenient 
doctrine to be under ecclesiastical orders ; they could do any villany, 
as long as the papacy, was independent of the law, and they would 
like, and are trying to bring this country into the same miserable 
state of things, of which we have been writing ; and are we not 
doing a great deal to encourage it? 

These people can have as much land as they please, without pay- 
ing taxes, to build these wretched places on, and do not Protestants 
even give their money as well as permit their fellow citizens to be 



392 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

imposed on by this greatest of all cheats, the supposed power vested 
in priests. 

The law of these monasteries made the monks dead to all the finer 
teelings ot humanity, and silences the reason and conscience ; they 
must follow a blind obedience in everything, if ever so criminal, 
never allowing reason or consciousness to assert its right ; they have 
no respect for each other, but are constantly acting as spies ; there- 
fore no conversation of an elevating character takes place ; they 
become more like mutes ; are such people fit to teach the word of 
Godr And lacking that quality of what earthly use are they? Are 
the}'^ burying their talents in the earth, and preparing an awful ^'uture 
for themselves — are they not treasuring up wrath against the day of 
wrath ? 

Luther, on his way to Rome, lost confidence in a religion that could 
tolerate these institutions. We give a short sketch of his experience. 

"Weary with his journev, he entered a monastery, situated on the 
banks of the Fo to refresh himself a few days. The splendor of 
the establishments struck him with wonder. Its yearly revenue 
amounting to the enormous sum of thirty-six thousand ducats, was 
all expended in feeding, clothing and lodging the monks. The 
apartments were sumptuous in the extreme, they were lined with 
marble, adorned with paintings and filled with rich furniture, equally 
luxurious and delicate was the clothing of the monks ; silks and 
velvets mostly formed their attire, and every day they sat down at 
a table loaded with exquisite and skillfully cooked dishes. The 
monk who, in his native Germany, had inhabited a bare cell, and 
whose day's provision was at times, only a herring and a small piece 
of bread, was astonished, but said nothing. Friday came, and on 
Friday the church has forbidden the faithful to taste flesh. 

The table of the monks groaned under the same abundance as 
before. As on other days, so on this there were dishes of meat. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 393 

Luther could no longer refrain. On this day, said Luther, such 
things may not be eaten. The pope has forbidden them. 

The monks opened their eyes in astonishment on the rude German. 
Verily, thought they, his boldness is great. It did not spoil their 
appetite, but the}' begun to be apprehensive that the German might 
report their manner of life at headquarters, and they consulted to- 
gether, how this danger might be obviated. 

The porter, a humane man, dropped a hint to Luther of the risk he 
would incur, should he make a longer stay. Profiting by the 
friendly council, to depart hence, while health served him, he took 
leave with as little delay as possible of the monastery, and all in it." 
Rev. J. A. Wylie's His. of Protestantism, page 245, vol. i. 

We will now take Mr. Chiniquy's opinion ; he says : 

" As you ask me, in earnest, what are the advantages of a monas- 
tic life over a secular, in a word and social point of view, I will an- 
swer you. In the monastery, man, as the image of God, forgets his 
divine origin, loses his dignity, and as a christian, he loses the most 
holy weapons Christ has given to his disciples to fight the battle 
of life. 

He at once and forever loses that law of self respect, and respect 
for others, which is one of the most powerful and legitimate bar- 
riers against vice. Yes ! that great and divine law of self respect, 
which God himself has implanted in the heart of every man and 
woman who lives in a christian society, is completel}' destroyed in 
the monastery and nunnery. 

The foundation of perfection in the monk and the nun is, that the}- 
must consider themselves as corpses. Does it not sweep away every 
idea of holiness, purity, greatness ? 

It is for that reason that- if you study the true historv, not the lying 
, history of Monachism, you will find the details of a corruption im- 
possible anywhere else, not even among the lowest houses of prosti- 
tution. 



394 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Read the memoirs of Scipio de Ricci, one of the most pious and 
inteUigent bishops our church has ever had, and 3-ou will see that 
the monks and nuns of Italy lead the very life of the brutes in the 
field ; read the terrible revelations of what is going on among those 
unfortunate men and women whom the iron hand of Monachism 
keeps tied in their dark dungeons. 

You will hear from the very lips of the nuns, that the monks are 
more free with them than husbands are w'ith their legitimate wives. 
You will see that everyone of those monastic insititutions is a new 
Sodom. 

I need not tell you, for you know that their vow of poverty is a 
mask to help them to become rich with more rapidity than the rest 
of the world. Is it not under the mask of that vow that the monks 
of England, Scotland, France and Italy became the masters of the 
richest lands of those countries which the nations were forced by 
bloody revolutions to wa-ench from their grasp?" — Fift}- years in the 
Church of Rome, pages 445-6. 

"I have never seen such a love of money, of honor, of vain glory, 
as I have seen among the monks since I have become one of them. 
I have lived several years in their palatial monastery of Rome, have 
cultivated and enjoyed their sweet fruits in their magnificent gardens, 
but I was not there lonp" without seeingf the fatal error I had com- 
mitted in becoming a monk. 

During the many years I resided in that splendid mansion, where 
laziness, stupiditv, filthiness, gluttony, superstition, tediousness, 
ignorance, pride and unmentionable immoralities, with verj' few ex- 
ceptional cases, reigned supreme." — Fifty years in the Church ot 
Rome, page 447. 

The above is a very small part of an already subsidized account 
between two priests who had been monks, and of course know what 
they are talking about. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIKS. 395 

'■ In Rome there are, or were, from thirty to forty thousand monks 
and nuns condemned to the material interests of the Vatican, to an 
impossible chastity to violence against nature, for which she avenges 
herself, by treading under her feet morality, and compelling families 
and the state to bear the consequences of this condition of violence 
in which the church has placed it. 

Humanity and morality are paying the cost in Europe, of eight 
centuries of temporal power of the ambition of the pontificate, and 
from it come the blood stains that disgrace the Eternal City." — Why 
Priests Should Wed, page 147. 

** It is not generally known that the crime of procuring abortion — a 
crime which our laws pronounce to be felony — is a common offense 
in popish nunneries. In Kings County penitentiary is a woman 
who has been in prison twenty years for infanticide, and who is 
condemned to stay there for life. That w^hich is a crime in the slate 
is a practice in the convents. Luther, in his 'Table Talk,' says, 
that in his time, a pool was cleaned out in the vicinity of a convent, 
and the bottom was almost litterally paved with the bones of in- 
fants." — Why Priests Should Wed, page 147. 

We copy here a report in the time of Henry VIII from the com- 
missioners of monasteries in England. 

The report of the commissioners was presented to the Commons 
at their meeting, on the 4th of February, 1536. 

" It is not our intention to dwell on the horrors that shocked the 
nation when the veil was lifted. The three foundations, or cardinal 
virtues, which these institutions had been established to exemplify, 
were obedience, poverty and chastity. They illustrated their obedi- 
ence by raising themselves above the laws of the I'ealm ; their 
poverty, by filling their houses with gold and silver, and precious rai- 
ment, and their chastity, by practices which we leave other historians 
to describe. Nowhere was holiness so conspicuously absent, as in 
these holy houses. There were found in them, says one, not seven, 



396 WHY HAVE PRIKST.S AT ALL? 

but more than seven hundred thousand deadly sins ; ahick I m}' heart 
maketh all my members to tremble, when I remember the abomina- 
tions that were then tryed out; O, Lord God, what canst thou an- 
swer to the five cities, confounded with the celestial fire, when tliey 
shall allege before thee the iniquities of these religions, whom thou 
hast so long supported I * * * * In the dark and sharp prisons, 
there were found dead, so many of their brethren, that it is a won- 
der ; some crucified with more torments than ever were heard ot', 
and some famished to death, only for breaking their superstitious 
silences, or some like trifles -* * * * No, truly, the monstrous 
lives of monks, friars, and nuns have destroyed their monasteries 
and churches, and not we." — Rev. J. A. Wylie's His. of Protestant- 
ism, vol. 3, page 401. 

" The monks and nuns were turned adrift without an\- sutflcient 
provision. Those who had been beggars before were now plunged 
into deeper povert}-. Thefts, murders, treasons abounded, and 
executions were multiplied in the same proportion, 

Seventy-two thousand persons are said to have perished by the 
hand of the executioner, in the reign of King Henrj- III." — Rev. J. 
A. Wylie's His. of Protestantism, page 401. 

Well, how do you like the picture? Only as yet a grain, have we 
drawn from this mountain of sin, and which is, harlot-like, im- 
pudentl}' denied and laughed at, when 3-ou confront these Catholics 
with these statements. I sometimes think it is the ver}- corruption 
of this filthy st}' that keeps it together. 

Can men and women so play with religion? Are governments 
aware of such things in their midst? Oh, some will say, it cannot 
be so ; it is untrue. Well, then, all history is untrue, for it is full 
of it. 

What is the meaning of the scores of the children's skeletons 
found in all the ages of this church when convents have been sudden- 
ly brought to the light? And these are the people that have been 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 397 

burning and outraging" christians b}' the millions, to force them to 
their unrighteous creed. 

Who are the heretics now? These are those that have been ban- 
ishing good, honest, and religious men and women from their homes, 
for what? Because they must have seen they were ten times better 
than themselves, and therefore they hated them. And now the 
people ought for the love of God, to say, in the majest}' of morality 
and truth, these things must stop — let the mask be torn away trom 
these j-eeming saints, and these places open for public inspection, 
or, what is better, pull them down, or do as they are doing in Iialy. 
Open them as school houses ; that is the use Italians have given to 
these places, and in the country nearest the pope, and of which we 
have just given a small idea of their past use. 

Oh, the groans and hellish deeds that will be brought to light 
when the books are opened, and these vile wretches are brought 
face to face with their victims, before an impartial Judge, and in 
whose name this vile atrocity has been done. Tremble, ye so-called 
priests, for the judgment draweth nigh. 

Is there any other body of women in the world that could be so 
reduced as to assist in such work as Maria Monk says was done in 
the convent at Montreal in the diabolical murder of Saint Francis 
and then to keep it a secret from the justices of the law? And will 
any mother or father allow their chilcren to be taught at these 
schools, to be taught by teachers of this system? When Maria 
Monk was leaving Montreal by the steamboat, to get away from 
persecution, she hears two young girls speaking of herself as being 
anti-christ, let loose in that city ; the}' are leaving there, because 
ihey would be contaminated to be in a place where an escaped nun 
was, and who they are told was anti-christ, tr3'ing to destro}' the 
Catholic religion? Do we want our children taught by such super- 
stitious persons? If they can mould such ideas into children, we do 



398 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

not want ours or any others taught under such circumstances. These 
little girls did not think that they were a part of this same anti-christ. 

Justin D. Fulton, D. D., says: "This church, so polluted and 
so vile, is reckoned by man}', as one of the religions denominations. 
These priests, and priests as debased as vile, are called, in the 
United States, by so-called christians, ministers of God. The ignor- 
ance of the average professing christian in America concerning 
Romanism, what it was and is, surprises those who have studied the 
character of papal life, and the blindness of the people who ought to 
be better informed. 

It will not do to say that this belonged to a past age. Priests, 
nuns and confessors are the same now that they were in the fifteenth 
century, all over the world. Whoever visits Paris will find a lying-in 
hospital attached to every nunnery. The same is to be seen in 
Madrid, and the principal cities of Spain, in Mexico, and in Dublin, 
Ireland." — Why Priests Should Wed, page 146. 

And here let the writer sav, this is one of his great anxieties ; the 
indifterence, or the ignorance of the people of this countrj^ on the 
subject of this so-called church. It is remarkable how little the 
average person knows of its history, and mingling as we do in trade 
and social life, we are so apt to loose sight of the fact that these 
people are those who have hunted God's elect all over the earth, and 
burned them, and with scorn sent their ashes to the four corners of 
the earth ; they are not naturally cruel, but are so under the toils of 
this so-called church, that if the; pope was to give an order, most 
every man's hand would be lifted against you ; remember, it is only 
a question of time. They are getting ready, ard calculating their 
forces, insinuating themselves into ever}' trade and profession, in the 
private houses by the servant girls. Thev have an armv of Jesuits 
prowling about in every meeting, congregation, or social gathering, 
and by this cursed confessional, make themselves acquainted with 
everv man's business. 



CONVENTS AND MONASTERIES. 399 

Oh, ye ministers of the Gospel, you ought to be on the alert, for 
the time is pressing. You would find thousands that would rally 
around you were you to preach to your congregations, on the sub- 
ject of this great evil. 

And remember these thousands and scores of thousands that have 
had to leave the convents and monasteries in Europe, Mexico and 
other places, are sent where they can get a footing, and we have 
perhaps more than our quota ; they are also voting at our elections, 
and help to return men, favorable to this worse than apostacy. 

My space is limited, but the few cases I have given are a specimen 
of the evil-doings everywhere. 

And to any christian who says or thinks that this confederacy ever 
formed a part of the church for which Christ gave up his life, and 
which the apostles preached, and left their testimony, I say, such 
had better go to the throne of Grace and ask Jesus to open their 
eyes, for I believe we are committing a great sin in not warning 
these so-called priests and their people that we understand them, 
and that God has revealed them to us. And as a finish to this chap- 
ter, let me remind you, God gave you a home here, and most un- 
mistakably protected you in your youth, and made you a Protestant 
nation, and if you do not value your birthright enough to take care 
of it, then, as we have said in another part of this work, the Philis- 
tines are in the land, and He may hand you over to their tender 
mercies. 

" And he said unto me, It is done ; I am Alpha and Omega, the 
beginning and the end. I will give him that is athirst of the foun- 
tain of the water of life freely. He that orercometh shall inherit all 
things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and mur- 
derers, and whore mongers, sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, 
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- 
stone, which is the second death." Revelations XXI, 6, 7, 8. 



400 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

And how does the lying to these poor creatures, in order to ruin 
them, by saying, if these so-called priests commit sin, it is no sin, 
agree with the following passages of Scripture : I John III, 8, 9, 
10 and 12. 

" He that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from 
the beginning. 

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed re- 
maineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In 
this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the 
devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he 
that loveth not his brother. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked 
one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him, because his 
own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. He that sayeth 
I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the 
truth is not in him." I John II, 4. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 

"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 
that is in heavens above, or that is in the earth btneath, or that is in the 
water under the earth. 

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord 
thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers, upon the 
children, unto the third and fourth generation, of them that hate me, 
and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my 
commandments." Exodus XX, 4, 5, 6. 

THE above is part of the law, as given by God, for the guidance 
of his people, both Jew and Gentile, for all ages to come. Yet 
at the very moment it was being written by the linger of God, 
the people whom he had led, by such a mighty hand, from their 
bondage in Egypt, were preparing to make an idol, in the shape of a 
golden calf, to fall down and worship, and even Aaron, the priest, 
assisted at the feast and the offering made to this idol, the work of 
men's hands. 

Men in all ages, led by the spirit of evil, have shown a great tend- 
ency to idol worship. 

These people had been brought out of an idolatrous nation, and 
knew but little, and to us, trom this distance, there might seem some 
excuse for their falling away so soon, and yet God was so angry, that 
had not one man, Moses, stood between them and his wrath, he 
would have destro3'ed them all. And if God considered it so great 
a crime, then, what must he think of it to-day, after the light of his 



402 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

truth has been spread abroad the earth, and is now being spread, at 
a pace unparalleled in the history of his church? 

Can any one but a heathen see any difference between worship- 
ing this golden calf and the Virgin Mar}-, or any of these saints so- 
called? What will God render to those who persistently teach such 
idolatry, also the continually crossing themselves before an}' image, 
be it saint or Virgin Mary, and by this act teach, and do that which 
Paul said would be done? See II Thessalonians II, 9 and 10. 
"Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all 
power and signs, and lying wonders, and with deceivableness of 
unrighteousness in them that perish." 

Read the rest of the chapter, for it is speaking of the coming papacy. 
God never changes, He is the same to-day, yesterday and torever, 
and as that is so, how came He to write the verse at the head of 
this chapter, if the saints and Virgin Mary are to be worshiped ? 

Some people object to the inspiration of the prophets, which is 
■wrong ; but they cannot do so in this case, for the above words were 
■written by the finger of God himself, on a stone, and delivered per- 
sonally to Moses, and by these commandments, He wholly repudi- 
ates the worship of saints and the Virgin Mary, or even the bowing 
down to them. 

The doing of which He pronounces idolatry, and says, in" effect, 
you hate Him, if you do so, and He will punish such acts, even to the 
third and fourth generation ; in the case of children, but to the elders' 
death; then, as that is the case, what, but evil can come to the 
people or congregation that will persist in doing so? An awful 
curse is pronounced against the so-called priests who will contin- 
ually teach such things, and by so doing they are not entering the 
kingdom themselves, but keeping out those that would enter. 

Then, if this sort of worship does not come Irom God, where does 
it come from? Let us try and find out. 

How excited this or any country would be, if the Chinese were to 
come and build a temple to Budda in every town, or if one was built 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 4O3 

to the goddess Diana, Kwan Zin, the goddess of mercy, or if the 
Turks or Arabians were to build a mosque to Omar or to Mohammed ; 
or again, if Hindo temples should go up, by the twos or threes, or 
more in each town, according to their size, we should begin to think 
ourselves inundated with idolatry. 

And yet, what difference is there in the present state of things? 

In allowing Roman churches to be erected, we are actually bring- 
ing into notice, all of the above religions, for popery is a combination 
of all the idolatrous religions in the world ; in reality, antichrist. 

In the first place, they borrow from the Chinese in their Budda, by 
having their priests with shaven heads, canonized saints, wax can- 
dles, penances, confessional. Lent, the rosary, purgatory, monas- 
teries. "The Chinese sell pra3'ers. The Catholics, indulgences, in 
the same way, by auction or otherwise, so that a man or woman can 
buy an indulgence for past sins, present, or to come, the length of 
time he might sin, or the quality of his crime, including murder, 
would depend upon how much money paid. The way these indul- 
gences were sold has been given in another chapter. 

The Egyptians were polytheists, or many god worshipers. The 
Roman Catholics are the same, only now they call them saints, and 
not gods ; they carry images in their pockets, as of old. I have seen 
in a book store, in this 3'ear of our Lord, 1890, a case with an assort- 
ment of these idols for sale for papists. 

The proprietor of the store, an American, and a Protestant by 
name. Surely the dollar is mighty. The writer used to visit the 
jail, and for several years, to speak to the prisont^rs. who by the bye, 
are almost always two thirds Catholics. On one Sunday, we were 
going to have the usual services, and we used to go to the cells and 
invite the prisoners on this occasion ; I met with a dreadful disapated 
man, his whole appearance was bad. Vice had claimed him for a 
victim; he had just slept off' a debauch, but said he was a good 
Catholic, and as usual had no fear but of the church. Is not this 
dreadful? And on my inviting him to come and speak about Jesus, 



404 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

he, in a mysterious manner, said Jesus was nearer to him than I 
thought. I asked for an explanation. I could not think Jesus to be 
near a drunkard. 

Then he pulled out of his pocket, a little brass Jesus, and held it up 
triumphantly. 

He was at once told that that was a dead Christ, and I wanted to 
tell him about the living Jesus, for that was only a S3^mbol, an idol, 
and of no earthly use to him, but a snare to lull him to sleep. 

Oh, what a religion, that will lead men to destruction, with their 
eyes open but to return. 

The worship of the Virgin Mary is taken from the goddesses 
before mentioned. Kwan Zin, the goddess of mercy, has a temple 
at Canton, China, where she is worshiped with great pomp, on the 
nineteenth day of the second month, which is the anniversery of her 
death and canonization. 

And this goddess draws the Chinese and Japanese out of purga- 
tory. This is pagan worship and belongs to the ancient mythology. 

You cannot change it by calling it christian, and as far as any 
good it will do, it is just as effectual as the worship of the Virgin 
Mary. But we will go back in the historj' of goddesses, to Nimrod, 
the third descendent from Noah, see Genesis X, 8, 9, 10, wlio built 
the Ancient Bab3-lon or Babel. 

They had their popes and cardinals, onl}- under different names. 

It was at this place the wickedness of worshiping" the Vi'gin Mary 
begun, in the person of Nimrod's wife, a beautiful woman, and a 
very devout one, but a heathen. A person may be devout, and 3'et 
be the victim of a false system. 

It is said some of the Roman Catholics are ver3- devout : this is 
very frequent, but it is mixed with dread ; dread of som.e supposed 
power the church holds over them, and in fact, this is in a great 
measure, the secret of these human religions. They fear the curse 
of the church. 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 405 

The devotion of real religion is so different; it is unmixed with 
fear, its votaries have passed into the rest promised to the people of 
God, and therefore their devotion is prompted by love, and love to a 
being, with whom they have a personal knowledge, v\hich is given 
by the Holy Ghost, and they are in daily and hourly communion 
with this being. So they do not need saints and Virgins, and fast 
da3's and feast days, and svmbols and shrines, festivals and ritural 
observances to whet the appetite. The Holy Spirit does that, and 
they realize in their experience, what Jesus said, blessed are they 
who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled, 
for unto them that have, shall be given, and they shall have more 
abundance. 

So these human inventions to them are useless ; faith in the pro- 
mises of our Lord Jesus Christ, fattens the christians' souls daily. 

But to return. Nimrod's wife was canonized, and they called her 
the queen of heaven, and worshiped her as such. Now, God says 
such worship is wicked, but the pope says you cannot go to heaven 
unless you disobey God's commandments. Never mind what God 
says, you attend to me. Is not this an echo of the Garden of Eden? 
You shall not surely die." But God in his word says, and comman- 
ded the people to stone to death, any found committing this wicked- 
ness, and he is so angry that he will not even hear a pra3'er in their 
favor. See Jeremiah VH, i8. The children gather wood, and the 
fathers kindle the fire and the women knead the doup^h to make 
cakes to the queen of heaven. (Do they not get their host from 
this?) see also Jeremiah XLIV, 19. This is a complaint made by 
the prophet Jeremiah, against this kind of worship, but the people 
then, as now, were so infatuated by what their priests (false ones 
then, as now, J tell them, that they would hardly listen to the 
prophet of God, and made the same excuses as are made to-dav ; 
therefore, the curse of God was pronounced against such evil doers. 
See verses 16, 17, and read more of this chapter, to fully understand. 



406 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Now if it was wicked in that day, is it not so now? The verse at 
the head of the chapter says, you must not bow or kneel, and why 
not take God's word in preference to men so corrupt as many of 
these so-called priests ? 

Changing the name from Queen of Heaven to the Blessed Virgin 
Mary, or Mother of God, does not change the crime; the idol wor- 
ship is the same. 

How can a woman be the mother of God? She was the mother of 
the body in which Jesus lived when on earth, but Jesus lived as God 
the Son before the world was, and by Him was all things made, that 
were made, so He is her Creator, but this is all on a piece with her 
immaculate conception and the pope's infallibility. 

Now, supposing 3'ou could from any source or manner prove her 
to be the mother of God, where do you get authority to worship 
her? She is surel}' one of the host of heaven, and in their likeness, 
and as such worship is forbidden. 

The writer wani^s to fully prove his case from the Word of God, so 
see Deuteronomy XVH, 2 to 5, inclusive: — "If there be found 
among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God givelh 
thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of 
the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone 
and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, 
or any of the host of heav^en, which I have not commanded, and it 
be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and inquired diligently, and 
behold the thing is true, and the thing certain that such abomina- 
tion is wrought in Israel, then shalt thou bring forth that man or 
that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till the}^ die." 

This shows God has set his face against any and all approaches 
to these idols, in any way or shape, either in worshiping, bowing, 
kneeling, or in an}- other way. 

We put the question at the beginning of this inquiry: "If this 
worship does not come from God, then where does it come from ?" 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 4O7 

It is certain, after reading" the above verses, that it does not come 
from God ; then we pronounce it the mvention of Satan, but observed 
from time to time by liis human Satellites. 

If you were to take away this saint worship and the mass from 
the popish church, it would hardly have anything left ; but the one 
is as great an abomination as the other, and yet in the face of such 
facts as are given above from God's Word, they not onl}^ keep on 
deceiving, and being deceived, but liave published some of the most 
extraordinary books founded on human reason, or evil suggestions, 
to deceive the innocent and unsuspecting, who have placed them- 
selves in their hands, and God will judge them for leading these 
poor people astray. 

One of the most blasphemous is the glories of Mary, by Alphon- 
sus de Lignori, an Italian. 

Italy must be, as it is represented, a very dreamy land ; nothing 
but a dreamer could produce such light, airy nothings, and pretend 
to add such importance to them. 

The above author must have lost his head amongst the statuary of 
Rome and its idolatrous life ; we will take a few of these thoughts 
from his glories of Mary. 

He, speaking of the Virgin Mary, calls her, as did the heathens 
of Babel, "Queen of Heaven," but he improves on them, for he, 
having once begun, can't stop ; so he adds, "of earth, of mercy, of 
angels, of patriarchs, of prophets, of apostles, of mart3'rs, of confes- 
sors, of Virgins, of saints. Mother of God, of penitents and especially 
of obdurate and abandoned sinners ; ravisher of heart, finder of 
grace, hope of salvation, defense of the faithful, helper of sinners; 
our only advocate, our refuge, our protection, our health, our life, 
our hope, our soul, our heart, our mistress, our lady, our loving 
mother, secure salvation, redeemer of the world, Virgin of Virgins, 
Mother undefiled, unviolated, most pure, most chase, most amiable, 
most admirable, most prudent, most venerable, most powerful, most 
merciful, mirror of justice, seat of wisdom, cause of joy, spiritual 



408 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

vessel, vessel of honor, mj'stical rose, tower of David, house of gold, 
ark of the covenant, gate of heaven, morning star, comfort of the 
afflicted." — Popery, the Foe of the Church, page i8i. 

Of course, he has exhausted himself, you say, he cannot surely 
have more to say. Oh, has he? 

Why, we could copy twenty sheets of this fulsome nonsense, of 
attributing the virtues that belong to God, and to Christ, to this 
Lady. A few more words. 

"In Mary we shall find every hope * * * In a word, we shall 
find in Mary, life and eternal salvation. For this reason, too, she is 
called the gate of heaven, by the holy church. St. Bonaventure, 
moreover, says that Mary is called the gate of heaven, because no 
one can enter heaven, if he does not pass through Mar3% who is the 
door of it." — Popery, the Foe of the Church, page 183. 

Let us wait a moment, and see what Jesus says on this subject. 
We must take his word, before this Italian dreamer's. 

"Then, said Jesus unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto 
you, I am the door of the sheep, all that ever came before me, are 
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them ; I am the door, 
by me if any man enter in ; he shall be saved, and shall go in and 
out and find pasture. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to 
kill and to destroy." — St. John, X, 7. 

Now, Jesus says he is the gate, or door, and we are to enter 
through him. 

Then what do we want of the Virgin Mary? He sa\s, all that 
came before me are thieves and robbers, and thev come onl}- to kill 
and destroy. Jesus came to change the religions of the world, and 
offer something better ; it was full of saints and virgins, and He tells 
us salvation is through Himself, and His sheep hear and believe. 

So in order to kill and destroy, as he describes, this so-called 
church comes, bringing back the old idolatry, in the shape of Saints 
and Virgin Mary, to rob them of the word of God, and to put in its 
place, anti-christ ; but also remember, his "sheep" did not hear them. 



THE VIRGIN MARV AND SAINTS. 4O9 

No one, who knows Christ to be his shepard, would listen to 
such apostate teaching ; how many millions have gone to the stake 
rather than listen to such blasphemy? 

And again, in the i6th verse, "'And other sheep I have, which are 
not of this fold * * * * ; them also must 1 bring, and they 
shall hear my voice, and there shall be one told, and one shepherd? " 

This last, seems plain to the writer, to speak of the day when these 
false religions will give way, and listen to no other voice but Jesus ; 
they will all be swept from the earth. And then, glorious time ; 
there will be but one fold, and one shepherd. 

But a little more from the Glories of Mar}', taken from " Popery 
the Foe of the Church." 

Richard, of St. Lawrence, says: " Our salvation is in the hands 
of Marv — Cassian absolutel}' affirms that the salvation of the whole 
world depends upon the favor and protection of Mary." — Page 190. 

"Thou hast a merit that has no limits, and an entire power over 
all creatures. Thou art the mother of God, the mistress of the world, 
the queen of Heaven. Thou art the dispenser of all graces, the 
glory of the holy church." — Page 673. 

" O, mother of mv God, and my lady Marv, as a poor wounded 
and loathsome wretch presents himself to a great Qiieen, I present 
myself to thee, who art the Qiieen of Heaven and earth. From the 
loft}' throne on which thou art seated, do not disdain, I prav Thee, 
to cast thine eyes upon me, a poor sinner." — Page 37. 

" O, mother of God ! O, queen of angels ! O, hope of men ! Lis- 
ten to him who invokes Thee, and has recourse to Thee. Behold 
me to-day, prostrate at thy feel I I, a miserable slave of hell ; con- 
secrate myself to thee as thy servant, for ever, offering myself to 
serve and honor thee to the utmost of mv power all the days of my 
life." — Page 153. 

" Hearken ! O, most holy virgin, to our pravers, and remember 
us. Dispense to us the gifts of thy riches, and the abundant graces 
with which thou art tilled. All nations call the blessed ; the whole 



4IO WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL r 

hierarchy of Heaven blesses thee, and we who are of the terrestrial 
hierarchy, also say to thee ; Hail full of grace." — P^ige 329. 

To offer prayers to the Virgin Mary, is only a waste of time. She 
does not hear them any more than an}- other dead woman, or has she 
any more power ; had Christ given her any such power, he would 
have told us so, but his teachings show everything to the contrary, 
and even had she any such power, or could these petitions reach her 
ear, the above kind of worship would not be suited to offer to a pure 
being. Notice the spirit I and you will detect that low, sensual de- 
pravit}^ coming from a diseased mind, and onh' fitted to offer at a 
bacchanalian revelry. It does not contain the pure spirit of a heart 
washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus ; the true penitence is not 
there. He that worships me, must worship in spirit, and in truth, 
and that means the spirit of God must be in your prayers, and help 
to form them, or inspire 3'ou with the petition. Does anv christian 
think such prayers to the Virgin Mary are by his spirit, especially 
since he condemns all such as are opposed to the commandments, 
as given in his Bible? Then where do they come from, 

As I have said before, these pages could be filled from such books, 
and it is the only unpleasant part of writing this book, copying such 
absurdities, but I will give as a finale, what Mr. Fulton says about 
the author of this " Glories of Mary." 

" Alphonsus de Lignori, patrican of Naples, bishop of St. Agatha 
of the Goths, and founder of the congregation of the Holy Redeemer, 
was canonized as a saint by Pio Nono, and is an authority in the 
Roman Catholic church. He declares auricular confession to be 
necessary' for the remission of sins. The voice of the prie.>-t, who is 
legitimately constituted a minister, for the remission of sins, is to be 
heard as that of Christ himself, who said to the lame man ; ' Son, 
be of good cheer, thv sins be forgiven thee.' 

Form of Penance: — Penance is the channel through which the 
blood of Christ flows into the soul, and washes awav the stains con- 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 4 II 

traded after baptism. The form of the absolution or pardon granted 
by the priest is this : — I absolve thee. 

The priest represents the character and discharges the functions of 
Jesus Christ, and must be obeyed in preference to God. All are 
bound to obey the priest. The penitent must submit himself to the 
judgment of the priest, who is the vicegerent ot God. Let a woman 
or girl in the Roman Catholic church believe this, and it is easy to 
be seen, how wholly she is in the power of the priest. 

The education of the priest is little short of being infernal in char- 
acter and purpose. 

Imagine a young man desiring salvation. He is misled. He is 
made to believe that suffering here will save him from suffering by 
and by. He fasts, he sleeps on the floor, he beats himself, he wears 
steel pointed plates next his heart, dresses in hair cloth, and comes 
to imagine himself as representing Christ. 

Before him come suppliants, who see in this minister of God, sit- 
ting in the tribunal of penance, a legitimate judge. 

The worshiper venerates the power and person of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, for in the administration of this, as in that of the other sacra- 
ments, the priest represents the character and discharges the func- 
tions of Jesus Christ. 

Lignori leaches, that penance remits all sin ; tiiat all are bound to 
obey the priest, whom they are taught to believe is the vicegerent of 
God, and holds the keys of heaven. Priests and penitents are bound 
to secrecy. Eternal life depends, they are taught, on confessing to 
a priest. 

Open now to practical instructions lor the confessor, in order that 
he may hear confessions properh', and see how his theology tolerates 
sin and favors wickedness. He teaches how to curse without sin. 
Swearing is made easy by Lignori. To curse the living is a mortal 
sin when it is formal ; that is, when he who curses, intends and 
wishes a grievous evil to befall the one he curses ; but it is no mor- 



412 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.' 

tal sin to curse the living when tlie curse pronounced is merelv 
material. Swearing is then in order, in the Roman Catholic church. 

Excuses for violating the Sabbath are given. 

A Roman Catholic must attend mass in the morning, and may do 
as he choses after that. 

On stealing. If small amounts are stolen, it is a venial sin : ser- 
vants may be easily excused, and are as many know. Stealing to pay 
for masses is allowed. L,3-ing is no lying when a mental reservation 
is made. He can sav, 'I only made this up in mj' head,' since all 
words which proceed from the mind be said to come from the head, 
since the head is taken from the mind." — Whv Priests Should Wed, 
pages 282-284. 

The writer has books filled with such dangerous trash as the 
above ; he has given this much to show the character of this cano- 
nized saint, and one that is a great authority among the Roman 
Catholics. You can hardly wonder at the class of victims, both men 
and women, you meet, and the Glories of IMar}- is in many cases the 
onh' book, except the catechism, the poor nuns have to feed on in 
their lonely cells. Whatever Roman Catholics ma}- think of it, 
christians can see no other use for such blasphemous books than to 
be destroyed. 

In the face of the words of warning that head this chapter, a 
scene occurred at Rome, on the 8th of December, in the year of 
our Lord, 1854. Pope Pius IX proclaimed to all the world that the 
blessed Virgin Mary was immaculate in her conception, and that 
there was no salvation to them that did not so believe. 

This was one of those spiritual thunderbolts that has shaken 
the taith of ihcusands the people who once believed in their foolish 
dogmas. 

We have stated this worshiping the Vii-gin Mary was a copy from 
pagan nations, beginning from the ancient Babel, and we think we 
have proved our statement. 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 413 

Still, the Roman Catholics believe, or are told to believe in this 
immaculate conception. 

If it is true to-da}-, then it must have been true from the beginning. 
If it is true at all, then it must have been so in the days of the 
apostles ; but which of the apostles do we find speaking of any such 
thing? There is nothing in God's word to encourage such a thought, 
and the apostles were Bible christians. 

As we have proved, popery did not come into existence until the 
seventh century, and then they had enough to do to get established, 
without bringing forth any such silly dogmas. 

A few fanatical monks do begin to speak about it from the ninth 
to the twelfth centuries, but it is opposed by all whose opinions are 
looked up to. After this a Peter Lombard, of Lyons, wrote a book, 
which was favorable to this subject, but it was opposed b}^ St. 
Thomas Aguinas, who was considered b}' the Roman church to be 
the best Theologian of the day. 

Others, from time to time, adopted this view, but it was always 
denied by the infallible popes, and the feeling ran high ; it created 
two parties, one for and one against, until blood begun to be shed in 
many of the cities of Europe. Spain got so high that they fought 
about it with all kinds of weapons, exliausting themselves in the 
strife, and yet all of the popes who are infallible, refused to sanction 
any such dogma. Even at the council of Trent, in the sixteenth 
century, the dogma was brought forward and failed, and then a 
monk had a dream — his name was father Leonard — that peace would 
never come until this dogma was believed in b}' the faithful. 

And at last, in the century in whicli we live, a pope comes forward 
and establishes this doctrine, and he being infallible, so-called, 
makes all the popes of the past, who have refused this dogma, to be 
liars, because, how can popes differ if all were infallible? 

And this is about how all the changes of the church of Rome have 
been brought forward, adopting the errors of the pagans at different 
periods. 



414 WHY HAVK PRIESTS AT ALL.' 

But the church of Rome cannot do anything like an}- one else ; 
they must have a dream, a miracle, or some great pretended spiritual 
show, to bring forward any new doctrine. 

Father Chiniquy gives a good description of the ceremony at St. 
Peter's church of Rome, on the day this dogma was established. 
For the benefit of our readers, we cop}- this farce. 

" The hn7naculate concept/on of the Ji'roz'n Mary. — 

The 8th of December, 1854, pope Pius IX was sitting on his 
throne, a triple crown of gold and diamonds was on his head, silk 
and damask, red and white vestments on his shoulders ; five hundred 
mitred prelates were surrounding him, and more than fifty thousand 
people were at his feet, in the incomparable St. Peter's church of 
Rome. 

After a few minutes of the most solemn silence, a cardinal, dressed 
with his purple robe, left his seat, and gravely walked towards the 
pope, kneeled before him, and hunnbly prostrating himself at his <eet, 
said, 

'Holy Father, tell us if we can believe and teach, that the Mother 
of God, the Holy Virgin Mar}-, was immaculate in her conception.' 

The Supreme Pontiff' answered, 'I do not know; let us ask the 
light of the Holy Ghost. 

The cardinal withdrew ; the pope and numberless multitude fell on 
their knees, and the harmonious choir sang Veni Creator Sfirtttis. 

The last note of the sacred hymn had hardly rolled under the 
vaults of the temple, when the same cardinal left his place, and again 
advanced towards the throne of the pontiff', prostrated himself at his 
feet and said, 

'Holy Father, tell us if the Holy Mother of God, the blessed 
Virgin Mary, was immaculate in her conception.' 

The pope again answered, 'I do not know ; let us ask the light of 
the Holy Ghost.' 

And again the Veni Creator SpiritusMas sung. The most solemn 
silence had a second time succeeded to the melodious song, when 



THE \-IRGIiX MARY AND SAINTS. 



415 



again the e3'es of the multitude were following the grave steps of the 
purple robed cardinal, advancing for the third time, to the throne of 
the successor of St. Peter to ask again, 

'Holy Father, tell us, if we can believe that the blessed Virgin 
Marv, the Mother of God, was immaculate.' 

The pope, as if he had just received a direct communication from 
God, answered with a solemn voice, 

'Yes ! ! we must believe that the blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother 
of God, was immaculate in her conception * * * * there is no 
salvation to those who do not believe this dogma ! !' 

And whh a loud voice, the pope intoned the Te Deum ; the bells 
of the three hundred churches of ^ Rome rang; the cannons of the 
citadel were fired I 

The last act of the most ridiculous, and sacreligious comedy the 
world has ever seen was over; the doors of heaven were forever shut 
against those who would refuse to believe the anti-scriptural doctrine, 
that there is a daughter of Eve who has not inherited the sinful 
nature of Adam, to whom the Lord said in his justice, • 

'Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return ;' and of the 
children of whom the God of truth has said, 

'There is none righteous ; no, not one ; they have all sinned.' " 
— Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, page 570. 

It makes one wonder at the patience of God, in allowing such 
theatrical shows, and done in the name of the Holy Ghost. Any one 
knowing the workings of this body of cardinals, with the pope at 
their head, can not for a moment doubt, this was all arranged before 
hand. The cardinal that asked the question knew what the answer 
would be, and understood all ab.out this by play, and the most blas- 
phemous part of this shameful business is to pretend to ask God to 
make himself a liar, to encourage, in 1854, that which he repudiates 
before Christ, 1491, the date he deliveres the law to Moses, and also 
Christ's and the apostles' teaching. 



416 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

Does any one, that knows anything about prayer to God, either in 
public or private, think a word or a sound went beyond the building? 

To pray effectually it must be done in the spirit and truth ; did the 
Holy Ghost dictate one word of that so-called prayer, and did he 
give the answer, such as the pope proclaimed, amid ringing ol' bells, 
and by such answer, which if given, would destro}' the law and 
prophets? Is not all this doing in effect, the same, or worse than 
was done by Ananias and Sapphria, whom Peter their pretended 
pope, pronounces those awful words against in Acts V, part of the 
third and fourth verses? 

"But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart, to lie 
to the Holy Ghost. Thou hath not lied unto men, but unto God 
And there we leave it. After saying that this whole scene is break- 
ing another of God's commandments given in Exodus XX, 7th verse. 
'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the 
Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain." 

We will give one more specimen of how these Bible haters use the 
word of God. 

"Bonaventure, a Roman saint (worshipped annualh^ July 14th, see 
Catholic Almanac) has, actually gone over most of the Psalms of 
David, striking out the words Lord, God, etc, and inserting Blessed 
Virgin, Our Lady, Holy Mother, etc. Psalm CX— "The Lord said 
unto Our Lady, sit thou on my right hand." Psalm XXV — "Unto 
thee Blessed Virgin, do I lift up my soul." Psalm XXXI — "In thee 
O Lad3% do I put m}- trust." 

Pope Pius IX, who considered the dogma of the immaculate con- 
ception the gloiy of his reign, in his Encyclical of November i, 1870, 
condemning the usurpers of the states of the church, addressed to all 
devout Catholics, this earnest exortation, "Going altogether to the 
foot of the throne of grace and mercy, let us engage the intercession 
of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God." — Popery the Foe 
of the Church, page 187. 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 4 17 

We have given a short description of the fulsome language em- 
ployed by this Roman church on the subject of the Virgin Mary. 

We will now say a few words on the saints, and the question will 
no doubt be asked ; What constitutes a saint? 

We do not den}- the fact of the Virgin Mar}'^ being a saint, but 
one after God's pattern. 

We know and respect her as the mother of Jesus, and there it ends. 

There has been, no doubt, thousands up to her standard, since her 
day ; there are in existance thousands to-day. And as the Gospel 
increaseth over the world, so do the number of saints increase. 

To be a saint, is to be a child of God, one that knows his sins for- 
given, one who has repented of his past life, and is now walking 
with God, living for him, in him, with him, and can say truly, I 
know that my redeemer liveth. 

This is a saint, and one of God's making. We cop}' from his 
word. Revelation XIV, 12: — "Here is the patience of the saints; 
here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith ol 
Jesus I" Also the same VII, 14: — "These are they which came out 
of great tribulation, and have washed their robes in the blood of the 
lamb.'" 

All God's children have tribulations, which come to them after 
they are born into the Kingdom, or as Jesus says, being born again, 
for they are all purified as by fire ; the fire of the spirit ; but all they 
suffer is of God's appointing; there is no sucli thing to them as vol- 
untary penance? 

These Roman pagans, most of them, are not aware that those 
millions of martyrs, burned or otherwise tortured and slain, and in 
the name of heretics, are the saints of God, and after his will, and 
all this wickedness done by them, the Romanists, was done against 
God's saints. 

Now then, let us contrast the Roman Catholic saints with the 
above. 



41 8 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL.'' 

In our remarks on the Virgin and the commencement of saints, 
we have gone back to Nimrod ; we will go further back, and quote 
Cain and Abel, the latter was a saint, and I think this is a parallel 
case, showing the Protestant and Catholic ; their hatred to the 
former, originates partly, as it did in Cain, from jealously. See 
I John III, 12. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew 
his brother ; and wherefore slew he him because his own works were 
evil, and his brother's righteous. 

We have said before, their saints are only a copy from earlier 
human religions, and their history shows their saints to be made of 
different materials from those that belong to God. Man}' are imag- 
inary characters, never had any existence but in the brain of their 
inventors ; some have been the vilest creatures, murderers, thieves, 
and the wor>t of men and women, but have had money or interest 
to pay for their canonization, which ceremony is in itself perfectly 
useless, as well as wicked ; as if God, after having sent his son as a 
pattern, would accept others of a spurious make. 

Then again, they have been made saints simply because they have 
written in favor of Catholicism : perhaps brought forward some such 
luseless writings as are found in the Glories of Mary. 

Lignori, its author, was made a saint, and he has done more to 
corrupt this church and monastic societ}^ than perhaps anyone else. 
He teaches that penance remits all sins ; that all are bound to obey 
the priest, whom they are taught to believe is the vicegerent of God, 
and holds the ke\ s of Heaven. Priests and penitents are bound to 
secrecy; eternal life depends, they are taught, in confessing to a 
priest. And see how his theology tolerates sin, and favors wicked- 
ness. He teaches how to curse without sin. Excuses for violating 
the Sabbath are given. 

"A Roman Catholic must attend mass in the morning, and may 
do as he chooses after that. — Why Priests Should Wed, page 283. 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 



419 



On stealing: — If small amounts are stolen, it is a venial sin. Ser- 
vants may be easily excused who steal from their masters. They 
are excused as many know. Stealing to pay for masses is allowed. 
Lying is no lying when a mental reservation is made." — Why Priests 
Should Wed, page 284. 

And they say a man teaching such impious lies is a saint. We 
think a prison is the only place for such a man. Now, let us take 
one of another kind. 

" The Jesuits of France had determined to kill the king, Hen rj^ 
III, sixteenth centur}', he having been excommunicated by the pope. 

So Jacques Clement was recommended to them as a man endowed 
with a savage energy, an ardent and unquiet mind, an ill regulated 
imagination of infamous morals, and possessing all the necessary 
qualities to insure the success of this difficult enterprise. 

He was recommended to Madame Montpensier, and they begged 
her to try the power of her charms over the young dominican. 

That same night, this Messalina sent for Jacques Clement to her 
palace, prostituted herself to him, and determined him to kill the 
king. 

The Jesuits did not remain behind the duchess, and seconded her 
so marvelously, by promising the Jacobin, in the name of the pope, 
to create him a cardinal if he succeeded, or to place him among the 
saints if he perished." 

"He obtained letters for Henry III, and a poisoned knife. Clement 
left Paris on the 31st of July, 1589, and went toward the Royal camp, 
and after some difficulty, gained an audience with the king privately. 
A few minutes afterwards the king called for aid, crying out, he was 
assinated, and whilst his guards were running in at his cry, he drew 
out the knife which Clement had plunged into his belly, and struck 
him with it in the face. The monk was killed on the spot b}'' the 
guards." — De Cormein, His. of Popes, vol. 2, page 266. 



420 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

" The clergy of Notre Dame even decided to raise a marble statue 
to the assasin. 

'Finally,' says the Abbot of Louquerne, 'the Sorbonne decreed 
that his canonization should be solicited at Rome, and the request 
was at once addressed to the sovereign pontiff." — De Cormein's His. 
of Popes, vol. II, page 267. 

So this assassin's work makes a man a saint. When popery was 
running at high steam pressure, saints were so numerous that every 
body had a patron saint ; all the}' had to do was to select one, and 
lo, there he was I at least, they thought so. Something like this is 
Saint Bridget, who is said to have flourished in the beginning of the 
sixth century, in Ireland. Her qualifications are staled to be beauty 
and the founding of a monastery in Kildare, and teaching young 
girls — we should hope not after the pattern of Maria Monk. 

But she was no doubt imaginary, as far as Catholocism is con- 
cerned, for she must have founded this monastery at least one hun- 
dred years before popery existed ; but at this early date monasteries 
were sometimes built independent of any organization. 

Then comes St. Patrick? The patron saint of Ireland ! This is 
surely a myth, as far as poper}' is concerned. In the first place he 
was a Scotchman, in the fourth century, three hundred 3-ears before 
the establishment of poper}', and if he took any religion to Ireland, 
it must have been Christianity, and not popery. Still, the Irishmen 
cling to him. Most of the other nations have done away with their 
saints, or are doing away with them, but the priests keep the Irish 
up to the mark, and they trudge along in the mud and rain on the 
17th of March, while the well fed priest rides in his carriage, to do 
honor to St. Patrick, and then when it is all over, just ask any one 
of them who St. Patrick was, and how he came to be a saint. Well, 
3'ou do not get much information. 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 42 1 

We have asked plenty of them, and to no purpose. The conver- 
sation might be something after this. 

Question. — "Well Pat, a bad day for marching?" 

Answer. — "Oh, sure and it is." 

Qviestion. — "Who was St. Patrick, Pat?" 

Answer. — "What a quistion to ask for an intilligent man like you." 

Qizestion. — "But I want to know, Pat, who he was and where he 
was born." 

Answer. — "Oh, sure, and 3^ou know as well as I do. What a 
quistion to ask." 

Question. — Well, perhaps I do know, as well as you, but still I 
want to know something more." 

Answer. — "Ah, don't be after bothering me, more shame for j-ou, if 
you don't know who St. Patrick was." 

Question. — "Well, I plead ignorance, and want you to give me 
some information." 

Answer. — "iYh, bad cess to you, everybody knows who St. Patrick 
was, and so don't be after bothering me." 

And that is about all you can get, and I presume all any of them 
know, and with such people, priests can do anything they please. 

These pages could be filled with saints after the above character, 
but that is not the object ; we wish to show the kind of life these 
people lived, who could so easily manufacture saints. 

At the time the Roman church begun to make saints, it was found 
necessary to add miracles, and the two together forged the chains of 
superstition on the people, so men and women were reduced to worse 
than southern slavery. 

There is nothing new in miracle working, for in East India, they 
had all sorts of lying miracles ; friars spending their days in preach- 
ing and miracle making ; begging shrines, and sacred places were 
very plentiful there, but we give one or two of the pope's miracles. 



422 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

"Pope Alexander II, eleventh century. Leo and Desiderius re- 
present Alexander as a pope of great sanctity, and endowed with 
the gift of miracles. He freed, they add, from the spirit of evil, a 
monk of Monte Cassino, and one day a lame woman, having drunk 
some drops of water, in which he had washed his hands, was mirac- 
ulously cured." — L. M. De Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. I, page 

363- 

"Sylvester II, also eleventh century, it is said of him, he dealt in 
a different kind of miracle. I give them as reported ; it shows to 
what a miserable state society had been reduced by these saints and 
miracles. 

After his death, however, the accusation of magic was renewed 
against him ; some chroniclers gravely affirm that Sylvester brought 
from Seville with him, an abominable book, containing cabalistic 
formularies, with which he forced Lucifer to obey him, and the spirit 
of darkness, promised the pontiff to guarantee him against death, 
until the day in which he should celebrate mass in the church of 
Jerusalem. 

Sylvester, they add, hoped to live forever, because he had formed 
the resolution never to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and 
continued to abandon himself to the most condemnable witchcraft of 
all kinds, but he soon found that the promises of the devil are always 
fallacious, and perfidious. 

One day, when the holy father was celebrating divine service in 
the church of the holy cross, called also the church of Jerusalem, the 
devil suddenly appeared to him on the altar, and seizing the golden 
figure of Christ, which decorated the chapel, struck him so violent a 
blow with it, that he died in a few hours." — De C?)rmein's His. of 
Popes, vol. I, page 322. 

"Six centuries and a half had flown by since the death of this 
pope, when the church of the Lateran was reconstructed. His coffin 
which was of marble, was opened, and the body was found clothed 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 423 

in pontifical robes ; the tira upon liis head, and the arms crossed ; 
Silvester appeared to be still living, and spread around an odorous 
perfume, but as soon as a ray of light struck him, an infernal flame 
escaped from his body, and all was reduced to ashes. There re- 
mained nothing but a cross of silver, and the pastoral ring." — De 
Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. I, page 322. 

The above is given as found in history ; it shows the kind of tales 
that could then be circulated and no doubt, believed in, at least by 
many. 

The reader will gather the state of the times from these and the 
following, remembering this was a very flourishing time for saints, 
and that the outward appearance of the country was most holy. 
Crosses everywhere, images of saints plentiful. Outwai^d obser- 
vances numerous, but true religion, were was it? Ah, where was it? 
Let us copy a little more, to show the fruits of this most holy, holy, 
so-called church. 

"Otho, recollecting that the Emperor, his father, had never been 
able to tame the Romans but through terror, determined to follow 
the same example ; and in accordance with the advice of the holy 
father, he prepared at the Vatican a sumptuous entertainment to 
which he invited the grandees ot Rome, the magistrates, and the 
deputies of the neighboring cities. Otho at first labored to inspire 
his guests with joy. Perfumed wines were poured out in profusion, 
exquisite dishes succeeded each other without interruption on the 
table, and the brighest gaiety shone on every face. Then, upon a 
signal from the prince, a troop of soldiers suddenly entered the 
festive hal), with their drawn swords in their hands, and three guards 
placed themselves behind each guest. A spectacle so strange filled 
their hearts with fear, and the dread increased when an officer of the 
palace displayed a long list, called out in a loud voice, the unfortun- 
ate men, who were destined for the executioner. Sixty victims 
were led from ihe banquet hall and pitilessly massacred. 



424 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

During this butchery, Otho and the pope preserved the same 
amenity in their words and gestures^ They pledged their guests in 
the best wines, and pointed out to them the most delicious dishes. 
But the frightful image of death was before all eyes, and their faces 
remained icy with terror. At length the horrible banquet was con- 
cluded." — De Cormenin His. of Popes, vol. i, page 308. 

Some of the American people have but little idea of the methods 
the popes used in the good days of saints to promote holiness, and 
this is the fruit of giving the pope an army. 

These soldiers had been blest, by this most holy pope, and is this 
work pleasing in the sight of God? 

We do not read in history any cruelty so refined and thoroughly 
heartless, as proceeds from the suggestions of the different popes. Is 
this the fruits of having so many saints around, or other kind of 
spirit? The reader can decide. Will now try and finish this picture 
by showing what a delightful set of men the priests were in those 
days, and we will take the the testimony from the mouth of the pope 
himself. 

"Domnus II, pope in the tenth centur)^ was giving an angry lec- 
ture to his clergy and he finishes by saying: 'I do not see among 
you but bigamists, concubine keepers, seditious persons, prejurers, 
apostates, usurers, sodomites and drunkards. Your children are all 
bastards, and your depravity is the cause of the ruin of my people. 

How can I punish a layman for the crime of adultery, perjury or 
robbery, when I am compelled to tolerate ignorance and dt-pravity 
among my ecclesiastics? You do not even know the creed of 
the Apostles, but to make up for it, you understand perfectly, what 

usuary, prostitution and — can produce.' These quotations give 

but a feeble idea of the frightful disorders, and inconceivable degra- 
dation of the clergy of the tenth century." — L. M. de Cormein's 
His. of Popes, vol. i, page 307. 



THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINTS. 425 

This pope was elected in A. D. 984, and disappears in the same 
year from history. Another was elected same year ; this has been 
the fate of all popes that have objected to the disorders of the clergy. 

The writer is disgusted with the doings of such infallible saints, 
but duty urges and we give one more. 

This is John XII, same century. "One of his concubines, 
Stephenetta, died before our very eyes, in the palace of Lateran, 
giving birth to a son, whom she declared was the pontiff's. The 
sacred residence of the popes had become under the reign of John, 
a frightful brothel, the refuge of prostitutes. Neither Roman or 
strange females dare any longer to visit the churches, for this 
monster caused wives, widows and virgins to be carried off from the 
very steps of the alter. Rich dresses or tattered rags, beauty or 
homeliness, all alike are used to gratify his debaucheries." — L. M. 
de Cormein's His. of Popes, vol. i, page 294. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
CLOSING REMARKS. 

T A AE promised in the first chapter to prove several things before 
-^ ■*'- we completed our book. The first of which was to show 
that popery was not Christianity, and we believe we have kept our 
word. 

As far as possessing christians are concerned, they need no proof! 

The whole system of Catholicism is so at variance with the spirit- 
ual life and worship, as laid down by Jesus Christ and the Apostles, 
and revealed by the Holy Ghost, that it is impossible for a soul that 
has been born again, not to see at a glance, the counterfeit. 

But there are many who have not this necessary spiritual vision, 
and can be easily deceived. The votaries to Catholicism are of that 
number ; to such we would say, before you risk your soul's salva- 
tion, come out from being lead by what men say to you. altogether, 
and see what God says. 

Compare the two systems ; go direct to Jesus ; he is your med- 
iator with the Father, you want no other, and remember this is a duty 
you owe to God, and to yourself, and failing in which, you may 
make a shipwreck of your soul. 

We onl}' ask you to try, do not fear what man may do unto you, 
they have no power but brute force ; do as Jesus tells you in Matthew 
X, 28. "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to 



CLOSING REMARKS. 427 

kill the sovil, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul 
and body in hell." 

And we also say, that as we have shown all the ceremonies, now 
and always performed bv the Roman church, were in existence and 
practiced by the pagan nations, commencing from the time of the 
ancient Babel, and also, thai the world was almost full of this abomi 
nation, at the advent of our Savior, including the idolatry of serving 
the queen of Heaven. And also as Jesus came to do away with all 
things, and to make all things new ; you are periling your future it 
you neglect to ascertain in an intelligent way, whether you are on 
the right road or not. 

We do not fear God's word to be able to stand any test 3'ou may 
give it ; and remember, we have no interest in this matter, but our 
anxiety for your good ; beyond this, we shall not loose or gain any- 
thing. And also find if everything is true that this church claims. 
If they are only wrong in one thing that will lead you to investigate 
more. See first, if they begun as a church at the time they say 
they did. 

And as they claim to be the successors of the Apostles, and as we 
prove they did not come into existence for over 500 years after they 
were all dead, find out by what species of legerdemain they connected 
themselves with them. 

And we have proved the Apostles to be Bible Chfistians, and that 
Roman Catholics have waged war on the Bible from their commence- 
ment, and also that the Bible condemns every action of their worship 
and teaching. 

This is an immense challenge, but we do not tear the result. Just 
find out for yourself if worshiping the Virgin Mary is a command- 
ment of God, or an insult and abomination to him. Before you 
worship anything, you ought to know whether it is right or not. 
Prove if God gave them the power to grant absolution, when the 
Bible teaches, no one can forgive sins but God. 



428 WHY IIA\E PRIESTS AT ALL r 

And we have made the fearless statement that Peter was never a 
pope, and we refer you to the second as well as the third chapter for 
our reasons. Now, if that is true, then what false statements they 
have been, and are still making. The writer would not fear to stake 
his existance, that Peter has had no more to do with Catholicism 
than he has, and that is but little. Then, if these thinors are false, 
which is the only claim they have to Christianity, in what manner 
can you have an}- coniidence in their statements? Do you believe 
Jesus built his church on Peter, or on himself, or do you believe in 
the many fables manufactured in the first place bv the Gentiles, 
or heathen nations, and afterwards copied by them? 

If this so-called church belonged to Jesus, and the pope, cardinals 
and priests were his representatives, then they would be like him, 
meek, gentle, kind, loving, forgiving, patient, striving against sin, 
and going about like him, doing good, and that means something 
more than temporal good, although it includes the latier, but every act 
of Jesus' life was a means to an end, nanu-lv, the regeneration of the 
man, infusing a new existence into the soul, tearing out even the 
roots of depravity from the heart, dragging men from a vile exist- 
ence, and restoring them to their original likeness of God. 

Has popery done this? We ask the question. We are the masters 
of the inquisition to-da}', and call forth the actions of these men to 
prove their standing. 

We have not published a hundredth part of the actions of these 
popes, cardinals, etc., and yet we have shown enough to prove them 
to be just the opposite to what the representatives of Jesus would be, 
and are. . 

We will put this question. Just suppose for a moment, that Pro- 
testants were wrong ; what then ought to have been the actions of 
Roman Catholics? To put them right, we say the\' ought to have 
loved and fed and housed them, showing that mercy that they are 
looking for, for themselves ; to have forgiven, if they had been injured. 



CLOSING REMARKS 429 

because it saA-s, " unless you forgive 3'our enemies, neither will your 
father in Heaven forgive you." 

Well, has this been their method? No, no! They hated these men^ 
not because they were enemies, but because the devil put hatred 
within them, and instead of doing them good; they, like fiends as 
they were, tore them, like wild beasts, to pieces, and worse than the 
brutes, they did not aim at the vital parts, but used means to prolong 
the hours of dreadful cruelty. Does this prove them to be the vice- 
gerents of Christ? 

God did not appoint a vicegerent ; this belongs to the fables. 

Had he wanted one, would he have selected the most vicious, 
cruel, unforgiving and relentless dispositions, as well as the most 
avaricious, sensual, diabolical creatures? 

The Apostle Paul says the works of the flesh are these : — Adulter}^ 
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envy, mur- 
der, drunkenness, revellings and such like, and then he says, the 
fruit of the spirit is love, jo}', peace, long suffering, gentleness, good- 
ness, faith, meekness, temperance. The former spirit the popes 
and cardinals had, and the latter, the Protestants, and that is why 
tliey hated and hunted them to death. 

Jesus left us his peace, but these men have been the promoters of 
wars, poverty, superstition, the destroyers of the happiness of the 
world, they promote confusion, infidelity, witchcraft, they are lying 
miracle makers, and all the list of evils that can be named, are due 
to them. Then did God appoint them, or was it some one else? A 
great deal of the evil of past history is unknown, and even discredited 
by numbers in and out of the Roman church, and the reason is, they 
have not read or studied the history of their doings. 

People have no idea how these thmgs have been and are brought 
about ; their one grand weapon is first, to create a dangerous mob,, 
fanatical and superstitious ; this mob must be so held by this so-called 
church in chains, to their interests, believing that no matter how they 



430 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

live, their priests can insure them eternal life. Now this is even far 
more w^icked than burning God's people to death as heretics, for 
these are safe. They go and join the grand army of martvTs, but 
this poor mob is led on in sin to the brink of the grave, and then 
plunged in to meet their victims, before a judge that cannot be de- 
ceived. 

These popes, kings and emperors could not at any time have car- 
ried their point without this dangerous element, the mob ! They 
were urged on by these priests, with drink and money, also the 
above false promises ; this was their strength, to do all this evil. And 
do not say the mob are used because thev are accidentally at hand, 
that is not so ; they are the creation, of this organization, the fiuits of 
the schools of this church, and are taught, insidiously, to intimidate, 
so as to create a reign of terror. 

We did intend to write a chapter on the separate schools, but we 
have spoken of them, in more places than one, and you have some 
of our thoughts on this theme, but bear in mind what has been al- 
ready said, these separate schools are raising an army to bring you 
in the tender clutches of this remorseless hierarchy. 

The educating of all children to Protestanti.^m, is of incalculable 
importance. It ought to take the precedence of everything. It is 
evident the children are the Catholic weapon, and ought to be wrested 
from their hands ; other nations have done so, and so must this — if 
we would keep the power of the country in our own hands and not be- 
come the slave of this Italian man of sin, sitting at Rome! 

We want to live in peace. It is not well to have a class of people 
growing up with us, hating us, and to have the children of the 
country, perhaps born of foreign parents, taught b}^ a designing 
class, to look on us as enemies. 

This is not the true principles of the constitution ; the people banded 
together for their mutual good. They left the shores, were bigotry 
reigned, and washed their hands of oppression, as they fondly hoped, 
forever. 



CLOSING REMARKS. 43 1 

And now we find this monster has followed us and is trying to 
sow the same seed of dissension, which blasted the countries, our 
forefathers Ifift. This, then, is the reward for the kindness of offer- 
ing a home to the sons of oppression, that the same evil should be 
grafted on the rising generation and nothing but a bloody war can 
rid the country, and cleanse the atmosphere once more. 

I make these statements on the ground of the truth of this book. 
If this book is true, then I am right. If not true, I will willingly 
take it all back, and make an apology. 

Do not some of these Jesuits occupy the pulpits, in these various 
denominations that are making the attacks on the divinity of Christ? 
This is a new method of destroying the truth of the Bible. 

Absolution, in this so-called church, increases crime; it makes 
criminals ; there are more crimes committed under this system than 
any other. 

All that read and study history, know this pope to be anti-christ ; 
then why are not all children taught the history of this church, 
w^hile their minds are fresh, and capable of good impressions. If 
the Catholics are so holy as they say, they ought not to object to the 
reading of their history ; do this, and in thirty or forty years, the 
country will be as pure as it was at starting ; and let us do this, 
instead of being drawn into the snare of fighting the pope's battles 
against Italy, etc. He wants some one to revenge him or Italy, 
but let him get some one else — don't let the American republic 
do anything to again enslave these poor down trodden people. At the 
time this was written, there was danger of a misunderstanding with 
Italy and this country on the assassination question or of killing the 
prisoners in New Orlean's jail. 

Would some of these kings of Europe have been so content and 
rest so quiet, under the trickery of the popes, had they believed in 
the religion? No! But it gave them power, by keeping all men 
slaves. 



432 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL f 

The whole history of this so-called church is a large catalogue of 
crimes. The forms of penances keep the people from reading and 
thinking. 

Contrast them with the Protestants, who have had the power for at 
least the last century, in England and America, and could have 
crushed them, if they had felt disposed. Instead of which they have 
fostered them in their midst, and out of mistaken kindness, have 
removed one by one, the just laws that have held them in check, and 
even to-day, when we see their object is to enslave us by their cursed 
system, we do not rise as thev would do, and drive all before 
them, and massacre young and old, but are trying by persuation and 
kindness, to bring them over, but oh ! I fear it is love thrown away. 

Had the people of God been left to themselves with their Bible, 
through the ages made dark by this false religion, what a different 
state of things should we see now. 

The millions upon millions of martyrs destroyed for their faith, 
would have been the means of spreading the Gospel over the earth, 
and saving it in a great measure from the degrading infidelity of to- 
day. This so-called church, is chargeable with much, if not all of the 
unbelief we find in our midst. 

And now, my friends, the public, I want you to be serious for a 
little while as we review these things, and just believe this book is 
written with an honest purpose, and that like Othello, there is nothing 
extenuate nor aught set down in malice. 

In fact, as before stated, there is not a man living, could write a 
twentieth part of the facts of this case; we have only attempted to 
show sufficient to prove the character of this dangerous organization, 
and if what has been said is true, can any one outside of an insane 
asylum think God ever sent such a religion to make his people 
unhappy, that he ever sent his son to die on a scaffold, simply to 
leave the world to the mercy of such brutes, as this Roman Catholic 
church, has proved itself to be, do you, reader, think this came from 
God? 



CLOSING REMARKS. 433 

Secular history, for the first few centuries, gives us very little to 
build a firm foundation on, and of course to take the history of this 
so-called church, would be like taking the testimonj^ of a criminal, 
in his own defense ; our greatest anchor is the word of God, and that 
says, such a oower would come, and its greatest characteristics 
wovild be cruelty, avarice, and all the blighting influences that the 
world has so keenly felt. 

Well as told in prophecy, it did come, and it proved itself to be 
the child of its father, and the earth has groaned under its cankerous 
withering hand, and is stiil groaning. 

The prophecy said it would be called, among other things, 
"m3'stery." Is it not, and has it not been surrounded in mystery ; does 
it not interfere in everything, without showing its hand? We know 
more about it in America, at present through' our elections, and the 
corruption of societ}', but in that it keeps as much as possible out of 
sight. We are only in the first act, we shall understand it better 
some day. 

Remove this cause, and you would find at once a falling away of 
a certain class of politicians ; they do not work without money, and 
there is no one so interested in politics as this so-called church, for 
by putting their own people into office, the}^ get a finger into every- 
thing, without appearing to do so ; we cannot vouch for the truth, 
but it is said, ihey have an interest in the employment of the City 
laborers, to do even the street cleaning, and make money out of 
that, to the exclusion of the Protestant, coming pretty close home. 
Is not all their system wrapped up in mystery, the confessional, the 
nunnery, the mass, and even to the preaching, in a dead language? 

And these things are brought about by the supposed unobtrusive 
Jesuits, who are often changing their tactics, and are living amongst 
us. If you will only notice, the same remarks are made by unbe- 
lievers, at the same time, whether they belong to the Popish Church 
or not, and they do not seem to know from whence the thoughts 
come, or see the hand that brings it. 



434 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

A new weapon of this kind has started recently ; it may not appear 
of an}' consequence to the casual thinker, but the writer thinks there 
is more in it than appears on the surface. 

It is simply this. They say, "oh, your Evangelical churches, are all 
drifting towards the Roman church, they copy them in their music, 
and often in their services." This has a deep significance, it shows the 
wish is farther to the thought, it shows they are at work in and out 
of the churches. 

Our answer to this is, the congregations do not select the services, 
or music, they only patiently endure. It is in some measure brought 
about, by the paid singers ; there ought to be music enough in 
Christ's church, without having to copy from others. Pastors ought 
to jealously guard against this. 

And now we refer 30U to chapter VI, America and the Puritan. 
The thought expressed there, is, we believe, tiue, that God protected 
the earl}" settlers when they were not able to protect themselves. 
Had England been at that date, a Catholic country, we should have 
been lost in the midnight darkness, as was France and Spain. 

The Puritans would not have come here, it was liberty of con- 
science that brought them under the direction of God himself. 

He saved this country from a degradation worse than south- 
ern slavery. He put into the hand of this people, the book that 
tauglit them what their Fatiier in Heaven required, namelv, to wor- 
ship Him, in spirit and in truth, and not to give wtiy to any false 
idolatrous worship ; have we kept our contract with Him? 

He gave the country every opportunity, both in spiritual and tem- 
poral good. He gave time to establish schools, and directed the early 
settlers how to teach His young children the true principles of Chris- 
tianity, and having begun so well, we should have continued, had 
not the arch enemy, sent his Jesuits here, to corrupt society. That 
was our day of visitation. We ought not for any cause whatever, 
to have allowed him to take such power in his hands, and what have 
we gained by it? 



CLOSING REMARKS. 435 

We have allowed an enemy to grow up amongst us, one that would 
cripple us, were we seriously engaged in war, and under the pre- 
tence of help, would suddenly leap into power as they have done 
always, everywhere. "War is their food ! To breed strife belongs to 
the kingdom of darkness, and it is a wonder we have been kept in 
peace as long as we have. 

Wars and rumors of wars are beginning, and unless the Lord pre- 
vents it, our enemy now feeling stronger, will quietly bring us into 
trouble, and then we shall see a different state of things to the 
present ; persecution of the christians will begin. 

If we wait a score more years, with all these seperate schools 
without a Bible, and God's book also kept out of the schools we have 
under our control, infidelity will be rampant the same as it has 
always been in Roman Catholic countries, and another army of 
internal enemies added to the force. 

And after giving His book a secondary place in the country, how 
can we look up to Him for advice and assistance? 

Wars are not always gained by the strongest power. It is not by 
might, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. The people of this country 
are beginning to see danger ahead, and are talking about it very 
seriously. 

Now then, is the time, if ever, to stop it ; shiploads of these people 
are coming over, and who furnish the money ; what has induced 
this sudden immigration? If it was of the better class it would be 
all right, but we fear trouble is brewing, of which we have no idea. 
And now I have given you my thoughts and should be very glad to 
fitid I am not a true prophet, but let us not forget, God stands up 
for those who are faithful to him. 

This is certainly the most vital question of the day ; we have seen 
the nominations made, and large conventions held all over the 
country, for the coming tall elections ; we must know that all of these 
thousands of dollars that have been spent for politicians, railroad 
fare, hotel bills, the press, etc., etc., comes from somewhere. It 



436 WHY HAVE PRIESTS AT ALL? 

would pay to just notice how many men have been brought forward 
independent of and including those nominated, that are favorable to 
this so-called church; by so doing it might open our eyes, and also 
to find if both parties have not at times opened their arms to receive 
these Roman candidates. And what think 3'ou of the German Cath- 
olic's congress held in Buffalo ; what is meant by the fresh pledge 
demanded, to never cease to courageously sustain the Holy Father, 
and in accordance with his intentions and admonitions, and to strive 
with all legal and legetimate means to regain the freedom due to the 
successor of St. Peter? 

What do we care about the freedom of this man of sin? Is this 
(as it is proposed) to be made the battle field during the coming 
World's Fair of this Roman church? They say political circum- 
stances have prevented this being done in Europe. 

The fact is there is no country in Europe will allow the sti'ife to be 
carried on there, and shall we show to the people of Europe that the 
republic can be imposed on to an extent that they cannot, and what 
would be the object of his gaining back his temporal power, to have 
a large standing army to awe us with others into his tender arms? 
If we allow this, then the next thing will be to elect an American 
pope, and allow him to live here, and then our felicitj^ or degrada- 
tion will be complete. 

And now in a lecture heard one- night this week, in this city, on 
the religious state of Ireland, and by a perfect gentlemen, an Irish- 
man, he said among a great many other things, how one party he 
met in Ireland, who was afterwards converted to Christ's religion, 
said his mother taught him four cardinal virtues, and she seemed to 
think when this duty was done her responsibility was over. The first 
was to " beware of a mad dog," the next, to " shun a Protestant," 
then, to " fear a kick from a horse," and also to " fear the horns of a 
cow." How can we live in peace when such hatred is fostered from 
the cradle? And once more, what do you think of the absurdity of 



CLOSING REMARKS. 437 

this Hol}' Coat, on exhibition in the Cathedral at Treves? Would 
it not be a nice addition to our World's Fair, to show our 
spiritual and intellectual freedom ? Mystery ! Mystery ! ! How 
long will this world be imposed on by such unworthy acts. 

It is part of histor}^ that this Holy Coat was exhibited at Treves in 
1844, '^"*^ drew over a million of pilgrims to this oldest of cities, 
and brought an untold amount of wealth to its treasury. Aye ! there's 
the rub ! Money ! Money ! ! Get Money ! ! ! Honestly if you 
can, but get Money. 

October, 1891. 



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